V.I-, 







Book rf-'^'Z 



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Gop}iiglitN^_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSnv 



PRIZE ESSAYS 



OF THE 

AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 



1913 



To this Essay was awarded the 

Herbert Baxter Adams Prize 

IN European History 

for 1913 



HENRY BENNET 

EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Secretary of State to Charles II 



BY 

VIOLET BARBOUR, Ph. D. 

INSTRUCTOR IN HISTORY IN VASSAR COLLEGE 



WASHINGTON: AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 

LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD 

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 

1914 



4.. 






Copyright, 1915 

By The American Historical Association 

Washington, D. C. 



THE LORD BALTIMORE PRESS 
BALTIMORE, MD.,^U. S. A. 

MAR 15 1915 

©aA393969 



'/. 



TO MY MOTHER 



PREFACE. 

The Ministers of Charles II were not chosen for 
their honesty, nor were they retained in office for serv- 
ices rendered the state. Yet, as the King himself was 
far from dull-witted, so the men whom he advanced 
were always intelligent and sometimes exceptionally 
able. If they accomplished little to their credit, it is not 
because they were sunk in frivolity and vice, as is com- 
monly assumed, but because they served a lazy, venal, 
and capricious master, whose government was perpetu- 
ally on the edge — and frequently over the edge — of 
bankruptcy. The errors of the Cabal Ministry, in par- 
ticular, have been more cordially recognized than its 
difficulties, and the five men who composed it have been 
execrated without being sufficiently known. Least 
known of the five, save by the testimony of his bitterest 
enemies, is Arlington. Yet, during the twelve years 
in which he was Secretary of State, no measure of im- 
portance was contemplated by the government without 
his participation, and in questions of foreign policy his 
knowledge and experience gave him the deciding voice. 
For five years, from the fall of Clarendon in 1667 to the 
outbreak of the Second Dutch War in 1672, his influ- 
ence with the King made him the greatest personage in 
England. 

To deal with any part of the social history of this 
reign which — as only Mr. Chesterton could say — " at- 
tracts us morally ", is not the intention of this essay. 
Its purpose is rather to determine the extent of Arling- 

(vii) 



viii PREFACE 

ton's political activity, the measure of his responsibility 
in the resolutions of the government, and in the success 
of those resolutions, particularly in the field of foreign 
affairs. 

The materials for such a study are greater in bulk 
than in content. Arlington's private letters — if he ever 
wrote any — have vanished. His letters to the Duke of 
Ormonde, half-friendly, half-official, form the most in- 
timate and interesting part of his extant correspond- 
ence. Some of these letters have been published by the 
Historical Manuscripts Commission;^ a large number 
which have not been printed are among the Carte MSS. 
in the Bodleian Library. The Clarendon MSS., also in 
the Bodleian, furnish in practically complete sequence 
the despatches written by Bennet in his capacity of resi- 
dent in Spain, previous to the Restoration. Certain of 
the letters which he addressed in the course of his secre- 
taryship to the English ambassadors at Madrid and the 
Hague were published by Thomas Bebington in 1701. 
A small fraction of the correspondence emanating from 
his office may be found in abstract in the Calendars of 
State Papers, Domestic and Colonial. In general Ar- 
lington's official letters are little better than no letters 
at all for the information they afford, since it was his 
rule never to trust any one. To compensate in some 
sort for this deficiency we have the minute and voluble 
commentaries of the French ambassadors in England 
on the secretary's official conduct, as well as on all other 
persons and occurrences that met their observation. 
Many of their despatches have been published in Mig- 
net's Negociations relatives a la Succession d'Espagne, 

1 Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquis of Ormonde, preserved at 
Kilkenny Castle, new series, 7 vols. 



PREFACE ix 

but the bulk of the correspondence must still be con- 
sulted at the Archives des Affaires Etrangeres at Paris. 
Of quite as much human interest are the rough notes of 
debates in the Committee of Foreign Affairs, jotted 
down by Sir Joseph Williamson and preserved in the 
Public Record Office at London.^ Much information 
in regard to the foreign situation during Arlington's 
secretaryship is to be found under the headings 
" France ", " Holland ", and " Spain " in the State Pa- 
pers at the Record Office. 

Of letters to Bennet there is no end. Those of 
Charles II and of Abraham Cowley in Brown's Miscel- 
lanea Aulica, those of Sir William Temple published in 
his Works, those of Ralph Montagu, written while he 
was ambassador to France,^ and those of the Prince of 
Orange," are the most interesting. 

The memoirs and diaries of this period contain a 
great deal of information about Arlington of varying 
degrees of reliability : Pepys, Clarendon, James II, Sir 
William Temple, Bishop Burnet, Sir John Evelyn, the 
Earl of Ailesbury, the Count de Gramont, and the Duke 
of Buckingham — all have an opinion of the Secre- 
tary of State. Equally rich in information are such 
collections of letters as the Nicholas Papers, Essex- 
Papers, Correspondence of the Family of Hatton, and 
Letters addressed to Sir Joseph Williamson. 

The dates given in the text of this essay are all ac- 
cording to the Old Style or Julian calendar. In the foot- 
notes, letters and documents cited are dated as in the 

2 Foreign Entry Books, 176-177. 

' Hist, MSS. Comm., Manuscripts of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queens- 
berry, preserved at Montagu House, Whitehall, 2 vols. 

4 Original Letters from King William III, then Prince of Orange, to 
King Charles II, Lord Arlington, etc., London, 1704. 



X PREFACE 

original, but when such dates are New Style, or Gre- 
gorian, that fact is indicated by the letters N. S. In 
the spelling of proper names, the practice of the Dic- 
tionary of National Biography has been followed. 

The generosity of Wellesley College in awarding the 
Alice Freeman Palmer Fellowship to the graduate of 
another institution, and the award by Cornell Univer- 
sity of the President White Fellowship in European 
History, made possible the accomplishment of the re- 
search necessary to this study. The writer is glad to 
express her indebtedness to Professor C. H. Firth of 
Oxford for advice as to sources of material ; to Doctor 
N. Japikse, who facilitated a search in the Rijksarchief 
at the Hague ; to the Reverend Herbert Wilson, Rector 
of Harlington, for permission to examine the registers 
of that parish ; and to the Reverend H. I. Kilner for the 
same privilege in respect to the registers of Little Sax- 
ham. In the work of revision, the suggestions of Pro- 
fessor G. L. Burr of Cornell University have been most 
helpful. The subject of the essay was suggested by 
Professor Ralph C. H. Catterall, also of Cornell, to 
whom the writer is particularly grateful for his kindly 
interest in the progress of the work, and for much valu- 
able advice and criticism. 

V. B. 
Ithaca, New York, 

January, 1914. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

CHAPTER I. 
Youth of Henry Bennet i 

CHAPTER n. 
Secretary to the Duke of York . . . .15 

CHAPTER HI. 
Resident in Spain 29 

CHAPTER IV. 
Secretary of State . . . . . . .46 

CHAPTER V. 
The Dutch War 70 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Fall of Clarendon 97 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Triple Alliance 118 

(xi) 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VIIL page 

Rivalry with Buckingham 137 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Treaty of Dover 154 

CHAPTER X. 
The Cabal Ministry 175 

CHAPTER XL 
Parliament and the Cabal 200 

CHAPTER Xn. 
At the Bar of the House of Commons . . .219 

CHAPTER XHL 
Retirement . . 239 

Bibliography 263 

Index 2yy 



CHAPTER I. 
Youth of Henry Bennet. 

The family of Bennet has ramified widely through 
the counties of England, and, while generally well-to- 
do, is seldom illustrious. In the sixteenth century the 
Bennets of Berkshire were undistinguished gentry liv- 
ing in Wallingford and making undistinguished mar- 
riages in Oxford and Buckinghamshire/ From this 
obscurity one John Bennet emerged brilliantly at the 
beginning of the seventeenth century as a lawyer, poli- 
tician, and courtier. Under the patronage of James I 
he rose to be judge of the prerogative court of Canter- 
bury, member of Parliament and of the Council of the 
North, and chancellor to the Queen, Anne of Denmark. 
The fortune he accumulated in these places of trust was 
reported to be fabulous, but for all its glamour. Sir John 
figures rather humorously in the letters of that time as 
a shrewd, pushing man of business, well under the 

1 There is a partial genealogy of the Bennets of Berkshire among the 
Rawlinson MSS., A 429, f. 3, Other particulars, given in connection with 
Thomas Bennet (brother of the John Bennet noticed above), who was a 
wealthy alderman, and became Lord Mayor of London in 1603, are to be 
found in the Rememhrancia, 208, footnote i. Richard Bennet, great- 
grandfather to Henry Bennet, married Elizabeth Tesdale, sister of the 
founder of Pembroke College (Oxon.), Thomas Tesdale, a prosperous 
trader in malt of Abingdon. (See Wood's History and Antiquities of 
the Colleges and Halls in the University of Oxford, 616-628.) Many of 
the family were educated at Oxford (see the notices of Bennets of this 
connection in Foster's Alumni Oxonienses), and I find one of the sons of 
the above-mentioned Richard Bennet referred to as " Richard Bennet, 
Gentleman " (Little, A Monument of Christian Munificence, 63-65), which 
would indicate that the family stood higher in the social scale than 
tradesmen or yeomen. 



2 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

thumb of his termagant wife.^ The fine airs of Lady 
Bennet were the joy of the Court, and so huge were the 
farthingales she wore that neither coach nor chair could 
hold them, but she must go afoot amid the cheers of 
street-urchins.^ 

When the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere surrendered the 
seals. Sir John Bennet was one of the competitors for 
his place, and offered the astounding sum of thirty 
thousand pounds for it, but was justly refused in favor 
of the learned Sir Francis Bacon/ With similar induce- 
ments Bennet besought the King to appoint him Secre- 
tary of State, and again his offer was ignored/ In 
1617 he had the consolation of a diplomatic mission to 
Flanders, of such trifling consequence that it would 
never have suggested itself to any one except the trifler 
then reigning over England/ Sir John accomplished 
nothing in it, and was glad to return to his legal respon- 
sibilities. He was a powerful and a courted man in 
1 62 1, when, without warning, the whole structure of his 
fortunes collapsed. While the impeachment of the Lord 
Chancellor Bacon held the attention of the House of 
Lords, another impeachment, brought into the Com- 
mons where Sir John was member for Oxford, dis- 

2 Leonora Vierendeels, daughter of a citizen of Antwerp. She was the 
third wife of Sir John Bennet. The first, Anne, daughter of Christopher 
Weekes, Gentleman, of Salisbury, died in 1601; the second, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Sir Thomas Lowe, alderman of London, died in 1614. 

3 Birch, The Court and Times of James I, II, 14, June 3/13, 1617, Sir 
Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, Esq. 

4 Cal. St. P., Dom., 1611-1618, p. 449- 
^ Ibid., p. 498. 

^ He was sent to demand of the Archduke Albert, governor-general of 
the Spanish Netherlands, the punishment of Hendrik van der Putte, or 
Henricus Puteanus, a Jesuit lecturer in the University of Louvain, who in 
a book entitled Corona Regia had satirized James and his Court. Bennet's 
reports to the Secretary of State, Sir Ralph Winwood, and to the 
English ambassador at the Hague, Sir Dudley Carleton, are in the Record 
Office, State Papers, Flanders, 12, passim. 



YOUTH OF HENRY BENNET 3 

covered the fact that during the nineteen years in which 
he had been judge of the Prerogative Court he had re- 
ceived countless bribes — often from both parties to a 
suit — and had appropriated vast sums bequeathed to 
charity. The Court of Star Chamber took over the case, 
and sentenced Sir John to a fine of twenty thousand 
pounds and imprisonment in the Fleet. In 1624 he was 
pardoned and released, but his career was ended. He 
died unnoticed three years later.'' 

The eldest son of Sir John Bennet, also named John, 
shared his father's ill fortune as he had shared his pros- 
perity. He had received an education at Oxford, 
studied the law at Gray's Inn, and thereafter traveled 
on the Continent as it was fashionable for young gentle- 
men to do.^ In 1616 the King knighted him at Theo- 
bald's,'' and in the following year he was sworn of the 
privy chamber of Charles, prince of Wales." The re- 
port of his father's wealth made him a very eligible 
young man, so that the elder Sir John had no difficulty 
in arranging a match for him with a young lady of 
quality, Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Crofts, knight, 
of Saxham in Suffolk. The Crofts were well received 
at Court and related to several noble families," consid- 
erations which were doubtless attractive to the head 
of the House of Bennet. King James was wont to stop 

^ There is an excellent sketch of Sir John Bennet, in the Dictionary of 
National Biography, by J. M. Rigg. 

^Alumni Oxonienses; Cal. St. P., Dora., 1611-1618, pp. 59, no. 

"Shaw's Knights, II, 158, June 15, 1616. 

"Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, 195, April 17, 
1617, Sir John Bennet to Secretary Winwood. 

" See the extensive notice of the Crofts family in the Little Saxham 
Parish Registers; also a statement by Sir Edward Walker, Garter King- 
at-Arms, that Secretary Bennet, being most nobly descended, on the 
mother's side, from several earls' families, might take the name of one 
of them, as Bradston, or Ingoldsthorp. (Cal. St. P., Dom., 1664-1663, 
p. 246.) 



4 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

at Saxham on his way to Newmarket, and had pro- 
fessed himself an admirer of his host's pretty daugh- 
ters," but as Crofts was blessed with nine, it is 
impossible to infer with certainty anything as to the 
appearance of Dorothy in particular. In fact we know 
nothing about her at all. 

For a few years after their marriage the young couple 
lived in Saxham when they were not with the Court. 
The register of the church of St. Nicholas at Saxham 
records the baptism of their sons : John, the eldest, was 
born in 1616, and his brother Henry, the future Secre- 
tary of State, two years later."^ After his father's dis- 
grace young Sir John Bennet retired with his wife and 
children to the quiet and beautiful village of Harling- 
ton in Middlesex, twenty miles from London, where the 
elder Sir John had acquired the manor of Dawley in 
1607.^'' He had not the ability — or, perhaps, not the am- 
bition — to restore the family prestige, and so, dropping 
out of the society that once knew him, lived in seclusion, 
a country gentleman of moderate fortune." Many 
children were born to him, of whom five reached ma- 
turity. Besides the eldest sons already mentioned, there 
were two boys, Edward and Charles, and a daughter, 
Elizabeth.'*' 



12 Little Saxham Parish Registers, 169. 

^^ Ibid., 7. The date of Henry Bennet's baptism is Sept. 6, 16 18. 

** Lysons, Historical Account of those Parishes which are not de- 
scribed in the Environs of London, 127. 

1^ Sir John Bennet, when endeavoring to escape assessment by Parlia- 
ment in 1643, valued his real estate at £300 a year, and his personal prop- 
erty at £500 (State Papers, Interregnum, 497, f. 120). In the order book 
of the committee for assessing the tax of the twentieth part of personal 
property (ibid., A. 61, p. 26), Sir John's tax is £120, which would make 
his personal property worth £2400. According to the value of money at 
that time, he would not be accounted a poor man. 

" Parish Registers of Harlington, Middlesex (not printed). 



YOUTH. OF HENRY BENNET 5 

At Harlington Harry Bennet's childhood was passed. 
Being a younger son, he was early destined for the 
Church," and probably for the living of Harlington, the 
advowson of which was attached to the manor of Daw- 
ley. He attended the Westminster School; thence, at 
the age of seventeen, he matriculated at Christ Church, 
Oxford, the college of his father and grandfather."^ 
The following year he was presented to a studentship." 
His brother John was entered at the same time as a 
gentleman commoner of Pembroke College, of whose 
founder the Bennets were collateral descendants.^" 

Oxford was then undergoing a purification and 
chastening under the direction of its new chancellor, 
William Laud, bishop of London. Gambling was for- 
bidden, ale-houses were few, students were expected 
not to disturb the peace. Harry Bennet must have 
participated in the last celebrations of the Westminster 
Supper, which Christ Church men from Westminster 
School were wont to hold annually in joyous drunken- 
ness until Laud abolished it in 1638. He must have 
witnessed the pageantry of the royal visit to Oxford in 
1636, for the King and Queen were entertained in his 
own college, and sadly bored, no doubt, by the lucubra- 
tions of Christ Church dramatists. 

The lure of a parsonage in Harlington with forty 
pounds a year did not arouse in Harry Bennet an en- 
thusiasm for theology. He did not take orders as 
divinity students were expected to do. It was recalled 

"Wood {Fasti, Sept. 28, 1663), Sheffield (Works, II, 86), and Evelyn 
{Diary, Sept. lo, 1677) all state that Bennet was educated for the Church. 

1* Alumni Oxonienses. 

"The one hundred and one fellows of Christ Church are called Stu- 
dents. They were entitled to a stipend of from forty to sixty pounds a 
year. 

20 Alumni Oxonienses. See p. i, footnote i, of this biography. 



6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

long afterwards in his defense that at this time he was 
entirely orthodox/^ but the orthodoxy of complete in- 
difference is often indistinguishable from the orthodoxy 
of conviction, and in Bennet's case the former is more 
probable. He became, however, an eager student of 
classical literature and developed a just taste and a 
pleasing style. " He was a better scholar ", says John 
Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, " than commonly Cour- 
tiers are ; and so well versed in the Classick Poets, that 
I never knew any man apply them so properly on any 
subject whatsoever, and without any pedantic affecta- 
tion." ^^ Straying still further in the pleasant ways of 
secular reading, he fell in love with the memoirs of 
Philippe de Commines, and with Davila's history of the 
Huguenot wars, both of which he recommended later 
to the attention of Charles H with the advice to bum all 
other books.^ 

In the university world Bennet passed for something 
of a poet, and was a regular contributor to the little 
volumes of Latin odes and English pastorals with 
which Oxford celebrated births and marriages in the 
royal family.''* Trite and flavorless verse as it is, some 
of the poet's opinions and aspirations have crept into 
it and show what he was thinking in the perplexed years 
preceding the Civil War. In the following couplet we 

21 Grey's Debates, II, 307. 

22 Sheffield, Works, II, 86. 

23 Clarendon MSS., 58, f. 362, Sept. 25, 1658, N. S., Sir Henry Bennet 
to Charles II. 

2* The volumes of verse to which Bennet contributed are as follows: 
Flos Britannicus, Oxford, 1637; Coronae Carolinae Quadratura, Oxford, 
1638; Death Repeal'd, Oxford, 1638; Musarum Oxoniensium Charisteria, 
Oxford, 1638; Horti Carolina Rosa Altera, Oxford, 1640; HPOTEAEIA 
Oxford, 1 641. I was able to trace Bennet's poems through the index of 
the second volume of Madan's Oxford Books, a Bibliography of Printed 
Works relating to the University and City of Oxford, or Printed or Pub- 
lished there. 



YOUTH OF HENRY BENNET 7 

find him asserting the divine right of kings with all the 
emphasis and whole-heartedness of youth : 

"We must not Question: What Gods and Kings doe 
Silence commands t'our Actions, and Thoughts too.'""* 

This was a theory of some significance in 1638, when 
all Scotland was signing a Covenant of resistance and 
Charles I was equipping an army by methods that did 
not recommend themselves to lovers of English liberty. 
In 1640, when the Second Bishops' War was drawing 
to its humiliating close, Bennet sternly condemned the 
Scottish cause, not because it was unreasonable, but be- 
cause it meant rebellion : 

" May all our Kings Designes succeed 
And yet no loyall Subject bleed, 
But, in their stead, let Rebels feele 
The sharpest anger of his Steele; 
Or, like to Cadmus ofspring bred. 
Their blood by one another shed,"^ 

The last of Bennet's poems to appear in print was a 
prefatory eulogy of two dramas by Thomas Killigrew, 
the courtier and wit. Killigrew had married Bennet's 
aunt, the beautiful Cecilia Crofts, a maid of honor to 
Queen Henrietta Maria, and it was therefore natural 
that the young scholar should undertake the friendly 
office of extolling his relative's work to prospective 
readers. The verses begin with an expression of won- 
der that genius has attained such heights without uni- 
versity nurture : 

" But why in vaine doe I urge this, when You 
Have gain'd those helps which learned men n'ere knew 
And greater too than Theirs ? your thoughts have reade 

2^ Musarum Oxoniensium Charisteria. 
28 Horti Carolini Rosa Altera. 



8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Men that are living Rules, whiles bookes are dead. 
Y'have liv'd in Court, where wit and language flow, 
Where ludgements thrive, and where true maners grow ; 
Where great and good are seene in their first springs, 
The breasts of Princes, and the minds of Kings : 
Where beauty shines cloath'd in her brightest rayes, 
To gaine all loves, all wonder, and all praise." ^ 

This Arcadian view of court life was not adopted in the 
heat of versification, nor was it outgrown with Bennet's 
callow years. He carried through life — through thirty 
years' experience in the Court of Charles II — the illu- 
sion that wisdom, beauty, and worth flourish best in the 
presence chamber. 

From Bennet's attitude in regard to the vScottish wars 
it is not difficult to infer on which side he would be 
found in the greater conflict impending between King 
and Parliament. The University, as was natural under 
Laud's chancellorship, was Royalist by a great majority, 
and in Christ Church, whose Dean, Samuel Fell, owed 
his elevation to Laud, loyalty to the King was very 
strong. When Bennet received the degree of master of 
arts on the twenty-sixth of May, 1642, civil war was 
inevitable and both parties were preparing for it. Lon- 
don and the surrounding parishes were in the grip of 
Parliament, which may have been the reason why a 
young man of Royalist inclinations would prefer to 
linger at Oxford rather than return to his home in Har- 
lington. Probably he drilled with the other students 
in the great quad of Christ Church, while the King's 
commissioners of array watched them from a window, 
and he may have been one of the " many proper young 
gentlemen " who " skirmished together in a very decent 
manner " the Saturday afternoons of August and Sep- 

27 The Prisoners and Claracilla: Two Tragae-Comedies by Tho. Killi- 
grew, Gent., London, 1641. 



YOUTH OF HENRY BENNET 9 

tember.*^ His brother John joined the King's army at 
the very beginning of the war, and in November his 
father became so elate as the royal forces bore down on 
London, that he left the quiet of Harlington and rode 
forth to meet the King, taking with him all the horses 
that his stables afforded. If a much-garbled " informa- 
tion " is to be trusted, he had the honor of dining with 
Charles at Colnbrook, and the next day, November 12, 
rode with Rupert's horse in the cavalry skirmish at 
Brentford, wearing a knotted handkerchief, the King's 
token, in his hat/'* No doubt Sir John, following his 
venture yet further, saw the royal army turn back be- 
fore the citizens of London lined up on Turnham 
Green, and having seen it, returned soberly to Harling- 
ton and the ways of peace. 

Harry Bennet, though as staunch a Royalist as his 
father and brother, lacked the militant temperament. 
It is probable that, during the first year of the war, he 
remained at Oxford, which city after the failure of the 
march on London became the King's headquarters and 
was therefore an environment much to Bennet's liking. 
We hear nothing of him, however, until, in the latter 

28 Wood, The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, II, 
438-455- 

29 " A Charge of Delinquency exhibited against Sir John Bennett of 

before the Commissioners for Advance by Leiut. Colonell 

John Biscoe. That the said Sir John Bennett did ayde and assist the late 
King against the Parliament by sending horses unto the said late King 
and that he furnished the late King with horses when he came to Col- 
brooke and soe to the fight att Brandford and that he rode with the King 
to Brandford fight against the Parliament and that he dyned with the 
King att Auditor Powell's howse, wore the Kings signall att the fight att 
Brandford which was a handkercheife in his hatt and rode with the King 
there with his Armes and sent the King after two Coach horses." (State 
Papers, Interregnum, A. 22, p. 276, Informations received by the Com- 
missioners for Advance of Money, Sept. 22, 1651.) It is possible that 
" Auditor Powell's howse " where Sir John dined with the King was at 
Brentford, and not at Colnbrook, but the latter seems more probable. 



10 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

months of 1643, he entered the service of the junior 
Secretary of State, George, lord Digby. 

This nobleman, the heir of the Earl of Bristol, had a 
stormy career behind him, though he was but thirty 
years old when the Civil War broke out. He had been 
a youth of brilliant promise — a promise which his man- 
hood repeated but never fulfilled. Courage, wit, excep- 
tional beauty, and a winning manner enabled him 
always to make an enviable first impression.^" But he 
had none of the qualities that should have lent weight 
to these advantages. His shallow resourcefulness never 
dealt with more than the immediate difficulty ; his elo- 
quence evaporated leaving no residuum of common 
sense; his intelligence raced off on fool's errands in 
astrology and alchemy. He was a mischievous egotist. 
The King had made him Secretary of State, not because 
he was fitted for such a post, but because Charles could 
not serve two military masters, and Prince Rupert had 
already established himself in that capacity. How Ben- 
net attracted the notice of Lord Digby one can only 
surmise — probably by his scholarly tastes and pleasant 
manners; and perhaps there is truth as well as malice 
in Clarendon's explanation : " He had address enough 
to make himself acceptable to any man who loved to 
hear himself commended and admired." ^'^ Nominally 
he was Lord Digby's secretary but, by his own admis- 

30 When Digby first appeared at the French Court, one panegyrist de- 
clared: "He was the discourse of the whole Court, and had drawn the 
eyes of all men to him. His quality, his education and the handsomeness 
of his person, his alacrity and courage of action against the enemy, the 
softness and civility of his manners, his knowledge of all kinds of learn- 
ing and languages, rendered him universally acceptable." (H. M. Digby, 
" George Digby, Earl of Bristol ", in the Ancestor, XI, 83.) 

31 Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxii, Character of Sir 
Henry Bennet. 



YOUTH). OF HENRY BENNET ii 

sion, had little to do,"^ Digby being already supplied 
with a secretary who transacted the routine business of 
his office. Nevertheless Bennet's duties, however hon- 
orary, kept him at Oxford and nourished his ambition 
for a more prominent part in affairs. 

In the summer of 1644 Bennet for the first time wit- 
nessed a campaign at close range, for Digby attended 
the King on his march through the West and South, 
and Bennet followed Digby. After Charles had forced 
the Parliamentary infantry to capitulate at Lostwithiel 
in Cornwall, he led his army eastward, and Sir William 
Waller, unable to risk a battle until he should be rein- 
forced, fell back before him. An attempt to surprise 
Waller at Andover, which barely failed of success, 
was the occasion of Bennet's one military exploit. 
The enemy, warned of the attack, had made good their 
escape, but George Goring, one of the most reckless 
and popular of Charles's officers, hurriedly raised a 
volunteer corps of horse consisting of about two hun- 
dred gentlemen, and with them dashed after Waller's 
straggling rear-guard. There followed a running 
fight, in the course of which Bennet, who was one of 
the volunteers, received a sabre-cut over the nose, 
which bit deep into the bone and left a scar that he 
carried all his life. This ended his volunteering, though 
he continued with the army until it returned to Oxford 
in November, 1644, and so must have seen — across a 
swollen nose — something of the second battle of New- 
bury." 

32 See p. 12. 

^^ Bennet's participation in the skirmish at Andover is attested by Wood 
{Fasti, Sept. 28, 1663) and by Sir Edward Walker, who says that Bennet 
received his " honourable scar " (misprinted star) there. {Cal. St. P., 
Dom., 1664-1665, p. 246.) Wood writes as if Bennet's military career ex- 



12 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

In the winter that followed, Digby found employment 
for Bennet that took him out of England, whither he 
was not to return until after the Restoration. He car- 
ried letters from the King to the Queen at Paris, and 
from there journeyed to Rome in the train of Sir 
Kenelm Digby, the secretary's cousin, whose errand 
was to seek the Pope's assistance for Charles I.** Sir 
Kenelm treated Bennet with the utmost kindness, but 
the young man was unhappy over the prolongation of 
his absence from England, and over the silence of his 
patron there, to whom he appealed very humbly : " I 
presum'd in my last letter to begge new Orders from 
your lordship, for, not having had the honour to receive 
any of your commands since my coming over, I am now 
at a fault for want of them, since the advantages which 
I receive from waiting upon Sir Kenelme Digby in his 
emploiment here, are, with it, upon the point to cease 
... I cannot tell how to entreate leave of your lordship 
to returne into Englande, when I call to minde how use- 
lesse, and yett how burthensome a servant I was to you 

tended over a considerable period o£ the war, but I believe that is guessed. 
The Duke of Ormonde, writing long afterwards to Arlington of an esca- 
pade of the Earl of Ossory during the Dutch War, said: " I wish he 
knew as much of these sallyes as you though it cost him such a cut over the 
nose, then there might be hope his head would settle." (Carte MSS., 
51, f. 180, June 9, 1666. Copy.) This leads one to infer that Bennet's 
experience of the war was limited to a sally, and that thereafter his head 
did settle. Accounts of the skirmish are in the Diary of Richard Symonds, 
141; in Walker's Historical Discourses, 106; and in a letter from Lord 
Digby to Prince Rupert of Oct. 20, 1644 (Additional MSS., 18981, 
f. 297). In none of these is Bennet's name mentioned. 

8* Henrietta Maria in a letter to the King, dated from Paris, Feb. 10, 
1645, N. S. (?), refers to the expected arrival of " Digby's secretary". 
(Green, Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria, 288.) In her next letter, 
of Feb. 28, she says: " I have received at the same time three of your 
letters, by Bennet, Leg [and] Talbot." {Ibid., 289.) Sir Kenelm 
arrived in Rome about the last week of May. (Carte, Life of Ormonde, 
bk. IV, par. 218.) 



YOUTH OF HENRY BENNET 13 

there; Nor to continue any longer abroade, because I 
cannot pretende to those fiers (which quicken other men 
to search out wayes of improvement) when I am left to 
my owne lazy and weake conduct, but since I have 
wholly resign'd my will to your lordship and that you 
are pleas'd to take a care of mee, it would ill become 
mee to have an appetite to any but what you shall thinke 
fitt to appoint mee." ^° 

But the decline of the royal cause after the battle of 
Naseby made the situation of the King's followers so 
uncertain that Digby would not summon him, and Ben- 
net remained in Rome until January, 1646, when he 
accompanied Sir Kenelm to Paris. 

He had not been long there before his former master 
claimed him again. Lord Digby had come to Paris 
from Ireland, where the Lord Lieutenant, the Marquis 
of Ormonde, was holding out for the King. Finding 
Bennet eager to attach himself once more to his service, 
the secretary hurried him off to Ireland with letters to 
Ormonde which included the following cordial recom- 
mendation of the bearer : " I have divers things to have 
added, which would have swelled this letter to too vast 
a bulke; and therefore I have comitted them to this 
bearer Bennett, the young Gentleman whom I have 
spoaken to you of before, who is now returned to mee 
out of Italy, whither I had sent him, and is one whose 
discretion and fidellity I doe infinitely trust." ^ 

This was the first of many journeys which Bennet 
made between Ireland and France in 1646 and 1647, ^^ 
secret messenger, carrying letters from Ormonde and 
Digby to Queen Henrietta Maria at Paris, and return- 

s5 Clarendon MSS., 25, f- "S, Aug. 28, 164S, N. S. (?). 
38 Carte, Life of Ormonde (Collection of Letters), CCCCLVI, June 17, 
1646, N. S. 



14 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

ing with her repHes. He is usually mentioned by them 
as being newly arrived or on the point of departure." 
Though it was a humble period of his career, it never- 
theless served him well by bringing him to the notice 
of the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and by acquaint- 
ing him with all the men who could pretend to import- 
ance in their counsels. 

When the Lord Lieutenant was finally obliged to sur- 
render his office to the commissioners of Parliament, 
Digby saw that nothing more was to be hoped from 
Ireland for the present, and in September, 1647, went 
off to France taking Bennet with him. They joined the 
other English exiles at the Court of St. Germain, where 
the charm of Digby 's personality gained for him many 
friends and as many enemies in a surprisingly short 
time. Queen Henrietta Maria made much of the hand- 
some Secretary of State, and as his devoted follower 
Bennet, too, found favor in her eyes. Therefore, near 
the end of 1648, he was preferred to the post of secre- 
tary to the young Duke of York, second son of Charles 
I, who had recently escaped the guardianship of Parlia- 
ment, and had fled to the Continent.^^ It is probable that 
Digby was glad to facilitate this arrangement, for he 
was planning to join the French army in quest of fur- 
ther adventures and renown, and he knew that Bennet 
had no mind for further soldiering. 

37 Carte, Life of Ormonde (Collection of Letters), CCCCXCVI, DI, 
DII, Dili, DXXVI, DXL. 

2^ The appointment seems to have been made before James reached 
Paris after his escape from England, for Bennet's name appears on a list 
of the " Servants which are to attend his Highness at Sea ", dated Nov. 12, 
1648, N. S. iCal. Clarendon State Papers, I, 445.) 



CHAPTER 11. 
Secretary to the Duke of York. 

The change of masters gave Bennet an improved 
standing socially and attached him more closely than 
before to the service of the exiled Stuarts. Also, it 
made final his separation from his family. After the 
execution of Charles I, Sir John Bennet accepted the 
authority of the Commonwealth and in 1652 made his 
peace with that government according to the Act of 
Oblivion."^ Edward Bennet had followed the Duke of 
York abroad, and later served in his French regiment,^ 
but he and his brother Harry saw little of each other 
and apparently cared still less. To his mother Harry 
wrote rarely and perfunctorily, assuring her of his 
safety and letting himself ofif with that.^ Probably he 
had not seen his home since the outbreak of the war. 

At the time when Bennet entered his service, the 
Duke of York was a sober-minded boy of sixteen, con- 
scientious, stubborn, and rather dull. He was easily 

* State Papers, Interregnum, A. 155, f. 164-167. Cases coming before 
the Committee for the Advance of Money; ibid., A. 12, p. 4. Order Book 
of the Committee for Advance of Money, 

2 Carte, Life of Ormonde, bk. VI, par. 126-127. 

^ A copy of a portion of one of Bennet's letters to his mother, written 
from Paris, July 22, 1656, N. S., is among the Rawlinson MSS. (A. 40, 
f. 263) : " The uncertainty of my removes from Germanic into Flanders 
and from thence into these parts, hath hindered mee from writing this 
long while to your Ladyship. I have heard nothing from my brother but 
conclude him very well because I am assured hee was not in this action 
wherein this side have lately susteyned so great a losse, his Regiment lyes 
in Conde which it is here feard the Spanyards will besiege." 

IS 



i6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

governed through his affections, but Bennet was never 
able to lay hold of them, partly by natural incompati- 
bility and partly because the Queen, by her liking for 
the young man, had prejudiced her son against him. 
Bennet had no lack of opportunity to cultivate his mas- 
ter's good-will, for in September, 1649, he accompanied 
Charles II and his brother to the island of Jersey,* 
whence the King expected to be summoned by Ormonde, 
who was again in Ireland. But the winter passed and 
the summons did not come, for Cromwell's Irish cam- 
paign ruined the calculations of the Royalists. The 
King left Jersey in the spring of 1650 to try his for- 
tunes in Scotland, but Bennet remained with the Duke 
of York, passing the time drearily enough until the 
autumn, when they rejoined the Queen at Paris. 

The bickerings of his suite and the hectoring of his 
mother soon made James so unhappy that in October 
he ran away to Brussels, where the Duke of Lorraine 
received him as the spider welcomes the fly. He began 
to arrange a marriage between James and his daughter, 
with the condition that he be allowed to reconquer Ire- 
land and make of it a protectorate for himself. When 
rumors of the Duke's negotiation reached Paris, " the 
Lord Byron his governor, and Mr. Bennet his secretary, 
both well liked by the queen, and of great confidence 
in each other, thought it their duty to attend upon 
him." ' But James had very little joy of their dutiful- 

4 Bennet's presence with his master in Jersey during this time is attested 
by a letter addressed to him by Abraham Cowley, dated April 30, 1650, 
N. S., the postscript of which reads: " My Lord [Jermyn] desires you to 
present his humble Duty to the Duke of York." (Brown, Miscellanea 
Aulica, 132.) Cowley was at this time secretary to Lord Jermyn, and 
wrote regularly to Bennet forwarding the news from Paris as long as the 
Duke of York remained on the island. Cowley's letters are all in the 
Miscellanea Aulica, passim. 

" Clarendon, Life, bk. VI, par. 23. 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK vj 

ness, for, acting on the Queen's instructions, they con- 
vinced the Duke of Lorraine that Charles II would not 
be bound by his brother's pledges, and behind their 
young master's back they turned the whole affair into 
ridicule. The Duke of Lorraine deftly withdrew from 
his bargain, leaving James in great straits for money 
and uncertain what to do. His mother was too angry to 
assist him, and had forbidden his sister, the Princess of 
Orange, to receive him in Holland. Forlornly he wan- 
dered from place to place in the Low Countries, always 
dutifully attended by Byron and Bennet, until the 
Queen, believing him repentant, recalled him to Paris 
in June, 165 1. " The Lord Byron and Mr. Bennet, who 
had comforted each other in their sufferings, were glad 
enough to see that there was some end put to their 
peregrinations, and that by returning to the queen they 
were like to find some rest again ".^ 

This was neither the beginning nor the end of dis- 
sension in the exiled Court. As we have seen, Bennet 
had at first associated himself with the Queen's clique, 
ruled over by her favorite. Lord Jermyn, and this had 
caused old Secretary Nicholas, who hated the Queen 
and all she smiled on, to speak of Bennet contemptuously 
as " a creature of Lord Jermyn's, as all men know that 
know any thing ".' But when the young King returned 
to Paris after the failure of his adventure in Scotland, 
Bennet fell away from the Queen's party and joined 
a group of young men in whose society Charles II 
found much pleasure. Sir Edward Hyde, Charles's 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was jealous of any 

^ Ihid,, par. 26. 

f Nicholas Papers, I, 294, April 15/25, 1652, Nicholas to Mr. Smith 
(Lord Hatton). 
3 



i8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

influence that endangered his own, considered the new 
" cabal " a pernicious combination of f rivoHty and am- 
bition.* First among the frivolous was Bennet's cousin, 
Will Crofts, an easy-going, fun-loving gentleman in the 
Queen's service, who enjoyed the distinction of being 
one of the few exiles not in financial straits. Lord Wil- 
mot and the Irishman, Daniel O'Neill, were men of 
greater wit, but Hyde had no reason to dread their pre- 
dominance in the King's affairs. The ablest and also 
the most ambitious of the fellowship, if we except Ben- 
net, was William Coventry, son of a former Lord 
Keeper, a man highly endowed for leadership and not 
at all the sort of boon companion agreeable to Charles 
IL Being wholly devoid of a sense of humor and often 
savagely irritable, Coventry must have tolerated with 
difficulty the frolicsome Crofts, but he was on terms of 
the warmest intimacy with Bennet, who may have stood 
sponsor for him with the less serious members. For 
Bennet was highly adaptable and could put on frivolity 
as a garment or sobriety as a cloak, always maintaining 
a mental detachment and poise that gave him an ad- 
vantage over men of greater sincerity. Those who 
knew him but slightly thought him cold and arrogant. 
On closer acquaintance they would be surprised — if it 
seemed worth while to surprise them — by his affability .° 

^Clarendon State Papers, III, 74, June 8, 1652, N. S., Hyde to Nicho- 
las; ibid., 77, June 22, 1652, N. S., the same to the same. 

9 "As for Mr, Ben[net] ", wrote Lord Hatton, "all I can say is for 
the better; for doubtless he hath given great satisfaction by the affableness 
he now shewes to all, and his former estranging made him deemed proud." 
(Nicholas Papers, II, 102, Oct. 16, 1654, N. S., Hatton to Nicholas.) 
Burnet (Own Time, I, 180), the Earl of Ailesbury (Memoirs, I, 13), and 
the Duke of York (Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 48) all refer to 
Bennet's pride in strong terms. Clarendon, however, seems to have been 
impressed with his social tact: " He was in his nature so very civil, that 
no man was more easily lived with, except his interest was concerned; 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK 19 

Like Coventry he was very ambitious, but unlike Cov- 
entry he was careful to show a disarming deference to 
the older men in the King's confidence — Hyde, Or- 
monde, and Nicholas. Hyde suspected that both Coven- 
try and Bennet were urging Charles to make them privy 
councillors, an aspiration which he felt obliged to op- 
pose."^" Fortunately for his peace of mind the " cabal " 
had a short life though a merry one: Coventry and 
Wilmot were sent off on diplomatic errands, O'Neill 
was generally in attendance on the Princess of Orange 
at the Hague, and the departure of the Duke of York in 
April, 1652, to serve as a volunteer in the French army, 
forced Bennet to leave Paris and betake himself to the 
camp. Each summer for the next three years he ac- 
companied his master through the campaign, spending 
the winters at the capital. 

In 1654 Cardinal Mazarin opened negotiations with 
Cromwell, having in view an alliance between France 
and England. The King, knowing that Cromwell would 
be certain to demand the expulsion of the sons of 
Charles I from France, did not await the outcome, but 
departed for Cologne in June. The Duke of York was 
to remain for the present with the French army, and 
Bennet, to his sorrow, must remain too. But the King 
did not forget him : " You must be very kind to Harry 
Bennet ", he commanded his brother, " and communi- 
cate freely with him; for as you are sure he is full of 
Duty and Integrity to you, so I must tell you, that I 
shall trust him more than any other about you, and 

. • . He practised such a kind of civility, and had such a mean in making 
professions that they were oftentimes mistaken for friendship, which he 
never meant, or was guilty of to any man." (Clarendon State Papers, 
III, Supplement, Ixxxi, Character of Sir Henry Bennet.) 
" Ibid., Ill, 74, June 8, 1652, N. S., Hyde to Nicholas. 



20 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

cause him to be instructed at large in those Businesses 
of mine, when I cannot particularly write to you my- 
self."" 

The Duke was far from feeling more kindly towards 
his secretary because of the affection Charles displayed 
for him. In the conviction that kings should be obeyed, 
he suffered Bennet's attendance, but he looked upon him 
as a spy, and disliked him heartily. Sir John Berkeley, 
the Duke's favorite, a bullying, determined man with 
whom Bennet had quarreled, seeing that the secretary 
had now no protector at the Palais Royal, snubbed him 
freely. " Sir John Berkeley governes in transcend- 
ency," writes one observer, " and in that family Mr. 
Bennet is but a cypher, though truly he carries himself e 
exceeding well, and to the great satisfaction of lookers 
on." ^ So uncomfortable was his situation that in De- 
cember, 1654, Bennet begged the King's permission to 
accompany the young Duke of Gloucester, who was 
about to leave Paris for Cologne. Charles's reply, which 
has many times been quoted as characteristic of the 
writer, shows to what degree Bennet enjoyed the royal 
regard : 

Harry, you may easily believe that my approbation for your 
coming hither would not be very hard to get, and if you had 
no other business here, than to give me an account how Arras 
was relieved, or who danc'd best in the Mask at Paris, you 
should be as welcome as I can make you. I will not say any 
more to you now, because I hope it will not be many days 
before you will see how we pass our time at Collen, which tho' 
it be not so well as I could wish, yet I think it is as well as 
some of you do at Paris; at least some that are here would 

^Miscellanea Aulica, 108. Private Instructions for my Brother the 
Duke of York, July 13, 1654, N. S. 

" Nicholas Papers, II, 156, Jan. i, 1655, N. S., Hatton to Nicholas. 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK 21 

not pass their time so well there as they do here, and it may- 
be you will be one of that number. On^ of the greatest Altera- 
tions you will find here is, that my Lord Taff is become one of 
the best Dancers in the Country, and is the chief man at all 
the Balls; and I believe he is as good at it, as one of your 
Friends at Paris is at making French Verses : I have nothing 
to add to this, but to tell you you will find me still a true 
Bablon.^^ 

Charles Rex." 

Bennet soon proved himself one of those who passed 
their time better at Cologne than at Paris, and willingly 
prolonged his stay until April, 1655, a delay which the 
Duke of York and his friends considered undutiful and 
open to suspicion. We learn that " Mr. Bennet is exceed- 
ingly undervalued by Duke Yorke, Lord Jermyn and 
Sir J. Berkeley in publick discourse " ; ^^ that he is " not 
at all looked on unless with an ill eye " ; " and that he 
" hath noe countenance from top to botome at the Palais 
Royall"." But the young man showed himself pro- 
vokingly indifferent to all this condemnation, for, dur- 
ing his sojourn at Cologne, he had cultivated to good 
purpose the friendship of the King's most trusted ad- 
visers, Sir Edward Hyde and the Marquis of Ormonde, 
and thus fortified could ignore the black looks of Lord 
Jermyn and Sir John Berkeley, the frigidity of the 

" A cant phrase in frequent use with the King and his friends. Charles, 
writing to Bennet of the Duke of York, says: " I assure you, he has 
behaved himself like a Bablon." iMisc. AuKca, iii. May 25, 1655, N. S.) 
Again, " I think I may say it to a Bablonist, that I hope to see you in 
your Master's Company before many Months past." {Ihid., 123, Nov. 9, 
1655, N. S., the same to the same.) And O'Neill remarks cryptically to 
the King: " Bablon's liberty has noe friend but his fidelity." (Thurloe 
State Papers, I, 682, Dec. 3, N. S., 1655.) I have not been able to find the 
origin of the expression. 

" Brown, Miscellanea Aulica, 109, Dec. 22, 1654, N. S. 

^^ Nicholas Papers, II, 230, March 23, 1655, N. S., Hatton to Nicholas. 

^^ Ibid., 297, May 21, 1655, N. S., the same to the same. 

^'' Ihid., 343, June 8/18, 1655, N. S., the same to the same. 



22 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Queen and the Duke of York/^ He began to look upon 
himself as the King's representative rather than as the 
Duke's servant, and to assume a more authoritative 
manner towards his nominal master than he had 
hitherto ventured. Charles continued to correspond 
with him by every post and in a familiar style very dif- 
ferent from the reserve of his letters to the Duke of 
York. With Bennet he discussed his political hopes as 
freely as the cut of his clothes or the latest gossip." He 
even sent him money occasionally, with the assurance: 
" It should have been more if I had it." ^" 

In October, 1655, the long-imminent treaty between 
France and England was finally signed. In return for 
an alliance against Spain, Mazarin agreed to the ex- 
pulsion from France of the Duke of York and certain 
of the more prominent Royalists, specified by name. 
James was not without expectation that the Cardinal 
would provide for him a command beyond the borders 
of France, so that he need not quit the French service 
in which he had been very happy. Hoping for the 
King's consent in case the offer were made, he sent 
Bennet once more to Cologne to learn what disposition 
Charles proposed to make of him when the treaty should 
go into effect .^^ 

18 " As for Mr. Bennet, he is happy that by Marquis of Ormonde's and 
Sir Edward Hyde's sudden favor he is soe well with the King, whilst he 
suffers nothing att Pallais Royall but seeming neglect of Sir John 
Berkeley." (Nicholas Papers, II, 215, March 12, 1655, N. S., the same 
to the same.) " I doubt not Mr. Bennett is in the height of grace, 
but I admire not their judgements who soe soone place him in their 
bosomes for falling out with their adversaries." (Ibid., 247, April 9, 
1655, N. S., the same to the same.) See also Clarke's James II, I, 271, 
275. 

19 The King's letters to Bennet, from May, 1655, to August, 1656, are 
printed in the Miscellanea A^ilica, 111-128. 

^'^Ihid., 120, Oct. 18, i6ss, N. S., Charles II to Bennet. 
21 Thurloe State Papers, I, 686, Dec. 10, 1655, N. S., Bennet to 
Charles II. 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK 23 

When Bennet arrived, the King was deep in negotia- 
tions with Spain, which power, threatened by the agree- 
ment of Cromwell with France, now bowed to the 
necessity of saddling itself with an impecunious ally. 
Bennet stayed to await the outcome, and made him- 
self as useful as he could to Hyde, who, for working 
purposes, embodied the complete ministry of Charles 11. 
Nicholas observed jealously that Bennet was now 
Hyde's " most intimate counsellor, and some say des- 
tined to be secretary [i. e., of State] which, whenever 
it be, he will be such a thorn in Hyde's flesh as will 
trouble him more than the gout ".^" Nicholas was a 
true prophet, but the thorn was to pierce his own flesh 
first. 

The treaty of alliance with Spain was finally signed 
on April 12, 1656, N. S. As Bennet was to spend four 
years of his. life entreating Spain to carry out her part 
of the agreement, it is necessary to outline its chief 
articles : Spain promised to furnish the King with four 
thousand foot and two thousand horse, and with arms, 
ammunition, and money for an invasion of England in 
the course of the present year, whenever the King could 
give satisfactory assurance of a port secure for the land- 
ing of the forces. On his side, Charles engaged to re- 
store all conquests made by England in the West Indies 
since the year 1630, and that no new English planta- 
tions should be made in that quarter. When he should 
be reestablished on his throne, he must furnish twelve 
ships of war to the Spanish navy, and maintain them for 
five years ; he must renounce all friendship with Portu- 
gal and allow Spain to recruit in both England and 
Ireland. In a secret article signed the following day, 

^^Cal. St. P., Dom., 1655-1656, p. 170, Feb. 8/18, 1655/6. 



24 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Charles promised to suspend all penal laws against 
Roman Catholics, to grant them full liberty in the ex- 
ercise of their religion, and to carry out the treaty with 
the Irish Catholics signed by Ormonde in 1649.''^ 

Leaving the King established at Bruges, which had 
been assigned to him as a residence by the Spanish min- 
isters in Flanders, Bennet returned to Paris with news 
of the treaty, and with some peremptory instructions 
for the Duke of York. The prospect of having to serve 
in the Spanish army against his beloved Turenne was 
so distasteful to James that he had written his brother 
urgently for leave to remain in the French service. 
Charles's refusal was the more emphatic because he 
suspected that the Duke was secretly engaged in a cor- 
respondence with some Royalists in England, to con- 
tinue which he was anxious to remain in Paris. Ben- 
net was instructed to prevent the Duke of York from 
taking any part in the summer's campaign, and to 
hasten his departure for Flanders as soon as possible; 
also — though the point was not mentioned in his writ- 
ten instructions — to investigate the matter of the Roy- 
alists. All of this he communicated to the Duke rather 
more roughly and freely than becomes a secretary in 
dealing with a prince.'* His irritation was increased by 
a suspicion that the Queen, Lord Jermyn, and Sir John 
Berkeley were encouraging James to disregard the 
King's orders. Bennet had long ago ceased to expect 

^^ Cal. Clarendon State Papers, III, 109-110, April 12, 1656, N. S., 
secret treaty between the King and Philip IV of Spain; ihid., no, 
April 13, 1656, N. S., reserved and special article of the preceding treaty. 

2* Clarke, James II, I, 270-272; Misc. Aulica, 125, June 20, 1656, N. S., 
Instructions for Harry Bennet; ibid., 126, July 7, 1656, N. S., Charles II 
to Bennet; Clarendon State Papers, III, 321, Jan. 28, 1657, N. S., Duke of 
York's Instructions for Mr. Blague. 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK 25 

anything more satisfying than polite neglect from the 
Cardinal in the cause of the exiles ; '" and therefore it 
tried his patience sorely to find the Duke beguiled by 
Mazarin's hints of a command in Savoy. 

All summer James lingered and hesitated at Paris. 
Seeing him on the verge of mutiny, Bennet thought best 
to suggest that probably it would not be necessary for 
him to take the field against France. On this under- 
standing the Duke started for Flanders, feeling all the 
martyr's melancholy joy. He had been commanded to 
leave Sir John Berkeley at Paris, but on that point 
James stood firm : Sir John went with him to Bruges.^* 

The rewards of submission are small. James had 
learned at the French Court to look upon himself as a 
hero and a general ; at Bruges he was made to feel his 
utter insignificance. He was told that he must serve 
in the Spanish army ; his protests were ignored and he 
had no part in the King's counsels, though his secretary 
was petted and consulted. "All the said Sir Henry 
Bennet's comportments towards me ", wrote James 
afterwards, " were so void of respect, as they made 
me conclude he had no affection for me, but was rather 
a spy, and as by the effects I have found a misrep- 
resenter of my words and actions and inclinations "!''' 
Notwithstanding Bennet's reprehensible behavior, 
James was commanded to show him favor beyond all 
others in his household, particularly in communicating 

2^ " I am only sorry that after all this tryall wee can yet thinke the 
Cardinal! a fitting person to advise with in things that soe nearly concerne 
us." (Nicholas Papers, III, 126, Nov. 16, 1655, N. S., Bennet to 
Nicholas.) 

26 Clarendon State Papers, III, 321, Jan. 28, 1657, N. S., Duke of 
York's Instructions for Mr. Blague; Clarke, James II, I, 276. 

" Clarendon State Papers, III, 322. 



26 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

with the Spanish ministers, since Charles had now re- 
solved to send Bennet as his resident to Spain.^^ 

It had been the King's first intention, encouraged by- 
Ormonde and Hyde, to make Bennet his Secretary of 
State,""" and to send Digby, now Earl of Bristol, to 
Madrid. That nobleman had come out of France a 
month before James's arrival at Bruges. He had a 
quarrel of his own with Mazarin, and therefore pro- 
moted with enthusiasm the new understanding between 
the English Court and Spain. Don Juan, who had 
recently taken command of the armies in Flanders, was 
charmed with him, and while Charles and his other ad- 
visers were kept at a significant distance from Spanish 
headquarters, the Earl of Bristol was made welcome 
at Brussels. As he was the only man having the King's 
confidence who could speak Spanish, his fitness for the 
mission to Spain was obvious. But an unexpected check 
arose in the refusal of Mazarin to give him a pass 
through France, for which reason, and because the 
Earl was making himself very useful at Brussels, he 
was restored to the place of Secretary of State, which he 
had held in the reign of Charles I, and Bennet was con- 
soled with the appointment to Spain. For the greater 

2s Clarendon State Papers, III, 322. 

29 A rumor of this intention had, as we have seen, disquieted Nicholas 
the preceding winter (see p. 23). Two letters from Ormonde written 
several years later sustain the idea that the secretaryship was promised to 
Bennet at this time: " I know Harry Bennett was long since in possession 
of a promise that when there should be opportunity for it he should be 
secretary of state." (Carte MSS., 143, f- 18, Oct. 19, 1662, Ormonde to 
Clarendon. Copy.) " Againe I am still to seeke in what particular I 
have given the Secretary [Bennet] cause since his coming out of Spaine 
to conclude my kindnesse was lesse then when I contributed my share 
towards the Kings sending him thither and towards his being then design'd 
for the place he now holds." {Ibid., 49, f. 183, May 13, 1663, Ormonde to 
O'Neill.) 



SECRETARY TO THE DUKE OF YORK 27 

dignity of the young diplomat the King knighted him 
and made him a gentleman of the privy chamber/" 

While Bennet was thus exalted, Sir John Berkeley 
was as ostentatiously slighted. The Duke of York 
added his favorite's wrongs to his own, felt them intol- 
erable and rebelled. On January 5, 1657, he slipped 
quietly away, taking with him only the servants he 
could trust, and retired into Holland, intending to re- 
turn to France unless he should have assurance of better 
treatment from the King." When his absence was dis- 
covered and his purpose guessed, the Court he had 
abandoned was dismayed, for the Duke's military repu- 
tation made him an important factor in any design upon 
England, and the Spanish ministers were counting upon 
his presence to attract English and Irish soldiers from 
the French army into their own. Don Juan looked 
grave, and hinted that under the circumstances the in- 
vasion of England must be postponed.^^ Bristol, who 
had hitherto tried to govern the Duke with a high hand, 
now counselled " even unreasonable compliance ".^ 
Charles sent Ormonde in all haste after the indignant 
prince, with leave to make all the concessions that 
should be necessary. These proved to be less extensive 
than all had supposed. The Duke complained bitterly 
of Bennet's insolence and disloyalty, but was placated 
by Ormonde's promise that he should reorganize his 
household as he saw fit. When he returned to Bruges 
the King received him kindly and raised Sir John 

30 In his instructions, dated Jan. 2, 1657, N. S., he is styled " Sir Henry 
Bennet Knig-ht, one of the Gentlemen of Our Privy Chamber." (Claren- 
don MSS., 53, f. 149.) 

^ Clarke, James II, I, 288-291. 

32 Cal. Clarendon State Papers, III, 224, Jan. 8, 1657, N. S., Bristol to 
Hyde; ibid., 226, Jan. 9, 1657, N. S., the same to the same. 

33 Ihid., 229, Jan. 18, 1657, N, S., the same to the same. 



28 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Berkeley to the peerage to seal the reconciliation. 
James lost no time in dismissing Bennet from his serv- 
ice, but found him too firmly intrenched in the King's 
favor to be reached with actual punishment.^* Under 
the circumstances, however, the ex-secretary must have 
felt that his presence in Bruges was embarrassing, and 
so, a short time after the Duke of York's return, he 
started on the long journey to Madrid. 

^* James represents the mission to Spain as given to Bennet in compen- 
sation for the loss of the post of secretary (Clarke, James II, I, 292), but 
as Bennet's instructions are dated two or three days before the Duke of 
York left Bruges (see p. 27, footnote 30), that is clearly impossible. 



CHAPTER III. 

Resident in Spain. 

The advisers of Charles II hoped that Bennet's pres- 
ence at Madrid would enable them to reach with their 
complaints the fountain-head of Spanish authority. On 
the other hand, the Spanish ministers in Flanders were 
not ill satisfied with this opportunity of remitting Eng- 
lish affairs to Madrid, which would furnish a pretext to 
muddle and retard them. The year 1656 had come to 
an end, and the year 1657 had begun without seeing 
any preparations under way for the recovery of Eng- 
land in accordance with the treaty between Charles II 
and the King of Spain. The task of defending the 
Spanish Netherlands against the armies of France, of 
protecting the treasure galleons from Cromwell's fleet, 
and of persisting still in the attempt to reduce the re- 
bellion in Portugal, completely exhausted the resources 
of the decaying Spanish monarchy, and made idle the 
promises to Charles II. But the non-fulfilment of the 
treaty was not entirely due to the failings of Spain. 
Charles on his side had been unable to give the stipu- 
lated assurance that a considerable port would declare 
for him at his first step from Randers. Spain, with a 
show of reason, insisted that a movement in the King's 
favor must begin in England before assistance could be 
hazarded from abroad. Charles and his council de- 
clared that the King's friends in England must be en- 
couraged by a demonstration from abroad before they 
could risk an insurrection. Four years were to elapse 

29 



30 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

while each implored the other to act, and then the 
Restoration came about after another fashion. 

In view of the helplessness of both parties to the 
treaty of 1656, it is not surprising that Bennet's sojourn 
in Spain is neither a brilliant nor an interesting chap- 
ter of English diplomacy. The Restoration was not 
hastened or retarded a single minute by his efforts, nor 
was it turned by a hair's breadth from the course it 
would have followed if he had been in China. Never- 
theless, because he returned with honor and reputation, 
whereas he had come obscurely, almost in disgrace, the 
five years of his stay in Spain form an important period 
of his life. 

Sir Harry's instructions, drawn by Hyde, were of a 
visionary and extravagant tenor. He was to convey, 
by such means as should present themselves, promises of 
pardon and preferment to the officers of Cromwell's 
fleet which was known to be lying off the coast of 
Spain. If successful in this, he was to give them new 
commissions in the King's name. At Madrid he must 
ingratiate himself with Don Luis de Haro, favorite and 
minister of the moribund Philip IV, and the most pow- 
erful man in Spain. With his assistance, Bennet was 
instructed to press the Spanish Council for a more open 
espousal of the King's cause, that the Royalists in Eng- 
land might be emboldened thereby ; for despatch of or- 
ders and arms for the expedition to England; for the 
freedom of Spanish ports to ships commissioned by 
Charles II ; and for a sum of twenty thousand crowns 
in addition to the King's pension — already in arrears — 
to defray the royal debts. Lastly, he was to represent 
as convincingly as possible the readiness of Ireland to 
revolt from Cromwell's government, and to propose 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 31 

that the Irish troops in the service of Spain and the 
four regiments newly formed of English and Irish who 
had left the French service to follow the Duke of York, 
be constituted an army under the command of a Cath- 
olic. This army, transported and maintained at Spanish 
expense, was to reconquer Ireland/ 

About the middle of February, 1657, Bennet had 
reached Paris. Henrietta Maria, to whom he delivered 
a letter from the King, gladly vented on him her anger 
at the alliance with Spain, and her disappointment at the 
return of the Duke of York to Flanders. She made 
clear to him that his presence at the Palais Royal was 
unwelcome. " To which '\ says Bennet, " I having 
without any other reply made a low leg, the interview 
ended.'"" Thus encouraged, the resident pursued his 
journey to Madrid, and near the end of March wrote 
to Hyde from that city. 

In his first interview with Don Luis de Haro he 
touched upon the reasons for his coming, and found the 
minister extremely courteous and extremely vague. All 
that Bennet could elicit was the oracular assertion that 
Philip IV " would be ready to hearken to anything for 
the King's advantage".^ A week later the resident 
was accorded a still more colorless audience of the King 
of Spain.* He visited as was customary several mem- 
bers of the Council, but found them preoccupied with 
the difficulties of equipping an army for Portugal. They 
displayed a baffling ignorance of affairs in England, 

* Cal. Clarendon State Papers, III, 222, Jan. 2, 1657, N. S., Instructions 
of Sir Henry Bennet. 

^Clarendon State Papers, III, 328, Feb. 23, 1657, N. S., Bennet to 
Hyde (not to Ormonde). 

* Cal. Clarendon State Papers, III, 264, March 28, 1657, N. S., the same 
to the same. 

* Ibid., 267. April 4, 1657, N. S., the same to the same. 



32 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

and no thirst for information. The hope of a reconciUa- 
tion with Cromwell still haunted them, preventing an 
open recognition of the King of England's representa- 
tive, whose complaints they were unable to heed, and 
therefore unwilling to hear. 

Against all the obstacles of his position Bennet tilted 
with the assurance of inexperience. He presented a 
memorial embodying all the demands suggested in his 
instructions, and wrote cheerfully to Hyde that he 
looked for satisfaction in most of them." Almost a 
month later he learned to his chagrin that his brave 
memorial had been lost. More depressing still, his 
money was exhausted and recognition of him as the 
King's resident was withheld. Nevertheless he pre- 
sented his memorial again, and waited. 

In this beginning is the epitome of Bennet's experi- 
ence in Spain, which it would be tedious to chronicle in 
detail. He found the ministers, to whom he was finally 
referred by the Council of State, " full of complimental 
expressions ", but his memorials were never read at the 
council board.* He was unable to carry through a 
single point of his instructions. The liberty of the 
ports was never actually granted and never actually 
denied, the question being referred from Madrid to 
Brussels and back again, until no man could say where 
it was pigeonholed at last. Blake's victory off Santa 
Cruz in April, 1657, P^t an end to all hope of tampering 
with the loyalty of the Protector's fleet. Open recogni- 
tion of Charles II as King of England was refused on 
the ground of the expense which his residence in 
Flanders otherwise than incognito would cause.^ The 

^ Cal. Clarendon State Papers, III, 268, April 7, 1657, N. S., the same 
to the same. 

« Clarendon MSS,, 55, f. 29, June 13, 1657, N. S., the same to the same. 
» Ihid., 55, £. 78, June 27, 1657, N. S., the same to the same. 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 33 

gift for the King's debts was a more remote possibility 
than the regulation of the royal pension, which sank 
ever further into arrears.^ The proposal that Spain 
should give up her Irish troops for an invasion of Ire- 
land, the success of which was problematical, when she 
was using every means to find men for the armies of 
Portugal and Flanders, was foredoomed to failure, as 
a man of less obtuseness in foreign affairs than Hyde 
would have known. The expedition to England, which 
required men, money, arms, and ships, was deferred 
first to the end of the summer's campaign of 1657, then 
to the following winter, then to March, 1658, then 
vaguely to the future. 

Through this dreary series of delays and disappoint- 
ments Sir Henry Bennet had labored diligently to bring 
about a better issue. He was a man not ill-suited to his 
errand, being persistent yet smooth in address, and able 
to ignore rebuff. But his arguments and reproaches 
had not the leverage to stir the Council of Spain. He 
admitted his failure : " I will not flatter my employment 
soe much as to saye I have obtaind any thing here to my 
satisfaction in my Masters businesse. If I have merited 
any thing, it is by telling plainely the truth which I have 
constantly done." " Having this comfort, he did not 
blame himself for his ill success ; he did not even blame 
Spain, whose appalling poverty was the root of all that 
went amiss. He was more inclined to blame the Eng- 
lish Royalists, the factor he was least acquainted with, 
particularly after the death of Cromwell in 1658, which 

* In July, 1659, the King's pension was twelve months in arrears. 
{Ibid., 61, f. 305, July 4, 1659, N. S., Charles II to Mordaunt. 

• State Papers, Spain, 43, f. 30, April 24, 1658, N. S., Bennet to 
Nicholas. 



34 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

brought about a sudden revival of interest in English 
affairs at Madrid. But when it was known that Eng- 
land was quiet, there was a swift subsidence of the 
hopeful symptoms. Bennet was questioned daily by 
Don Luis or others of the Council regarding the King's 
plans, and mourned that he coup not reply as he would 
have liked. '' I dare not lye for*feare of being caught in 
it, and soe loose the oportunity of doing it to some 
good purpose hereafter." " 

The Protector's death and the consequent weakening 
of the alliance between England and France enabled 
Spain to draw the latter into a treaty. A; suspension of 
arms was proclaimed in May, 1659, ^^^ '^^ the summer 
Mazarin and Don Luis de Haro met on the frontier to 
negotiate the Peace of the Pyrenees. Bennet saw in 
this meeting a possibility of inducing France to unite 
with Spain — from whom alone nothing was to be ex- 
pected — for the restoration of Charles IL He felt 
reasonably sure of Don Luis's good will to this end, 
provided the Cardinal would agree. To gain Mazarin, 
the resident urged that Charles himself come to the 
place of treaty to plead his cause in person. By every 
ordinary he pressed Hyde to consent to this plan, and 
he was able to fortify his own reasoning with the appro- 
bation of Don Luis de Haro." The King had hoped to 
conduct in person a rising which his friends in England 
had organized for that summer, but the discovery of the 
plot, and the failure of an unsupported attempt of the 
Royalists in Cheshire, decided him to try his fortune at 
the treaty. Because some of his followers feared arrest 

" Clarendon MSS., 59, f. 132, Oct, 30, 1658, N. S., Bennet to Hyde. 
'"-Ibid., 62, f. 125, San Sebastian, July 26, 1659, N. S., the same to the 
same. 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 35 

if the King were recognized in France, Charles made a 
long, rough journey by unfrequented routes, and did 
not arrive at Fuentarabia until late October, when the 
treaty was far advanced. 

In the meantime, Bennet had himself reached Fuen- 
tarabia in the magnificent train of Don Luis de Haro. 
This minister had always manifested much sympathy 
for the hard fate of Charles 11. The complaisant and 
kindly spirit which made him the favorite of Philip IV 
could not qualify him for coldly intellectual statesman- 
ship. He wished to see all who depended on him satis- 
fied and grateful, even if what they wanted was entirely 
unreasonable. He was very sensible to obligations of 
honor, and, partly from circumstance, partly from in- 
clination, now found himself the champion of dis- 
tressed princes, having the Prince of Conde and the 
Duke of Lorraine on his conscience as well as Charles 
II. Bennet's deferential persistence had not failed to 
make an impression on this soft and generous nature. 
The friendship of Don Luis was the sole result of his 
three years' residence at Madrid, and it seemed to be the 
only hope at this time for the affairs of Charles II. 

It was not difficult for a man of Mazarin's penetra- 
tion to read the character of his opponent, to divine his 
astounding ignorance of foreign affairs, and the weak 
will that made it easy to divert him from his opinions."^ 

" " Et quoiqu'il importe de parler de Dom Louis comme d'unfort grand et 
habile Ministre, et informe a fond de toutes choses, je suis oblige de 
faire savoir confidemment a levirs Majestes, lesquelles pourtant pour leur 
service et par toutes sortes de raisons doivent affecter d'en parler autre- 
ment, que le jugement que je fais de Dom Louis est qu'il n'est pas informe 
a fond des affaires etrangeres, ce qui est cause de son irresolution et du 
doute qu'il a de decider sur les moindres choses, car tout est capable de 
I'arreter court, et c'est la raison pour laquelle il remet tou jours a faire 
reponse sur cent choses, et sur cent expediens que je lui propose sur le 
champ." (Lettres du Cardinal Mazarin, I, 452, Sept. 10, 1659, N. S., 
Mazarin to Le Tellier.) 



36 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The Cardinal had decided that the question of England 
must wait until the essential points of the treaty were 
settled, and it waited accordingly. Neither Sir William 
Lockhart, ambassador from the English Parliament, 
who was non-committally harbored by Mazarin on the 
French side of the Bidassoa, nor Sir Henry Bennet, on 
the Spanish side, found himself a personage of con- 
spicuous importance when the conferences began in 
the second week of August. The latter, irritated be- 
cause Hyde had given him no positive orders what to 
do or say, and uneasy because the King delayed so long, 
saw little chance of turning the negotiations to good 
account. Don Luis, who had treated Bennet with 
marked friendliness on the journey to the frontier, 
seating him next to himself at table, and offering the 
King of England's health after that of Philip had been 
honored," now, under the influence of Mazarin, began 
to vacillate, and gave audience to Lockhart at the Car- 
dinal's request. It was not, to be sure, an interview 
very satisfactory to Lockhart," but it was especially 
vexing to Bennet because of a humiliation which had 
befallen him a few days before. 

He had received instructions from Hyde to pay a 
visit to the Cardinal as if of his own initiative, and had 
convinced himself that Mazarin, though he might, if 
forewarned, discourage his coming, would not refuse 
to receive him when he presented himself at the door. 
In this he miscalculated Mazarin' s determination to 
preserve appearances with Lockhart. He mounted the 
steps of the Cardinal's lodgings " as if we were the best 

" Clarendon MSS., 62, f. 125, July 26, 1659, N. S., Bennet to Hyde. 
" See Locldiart's report of it to the President of the Council of State, 
Clarendon State Papers, III, 544, Aug. 22, 1659, N. S. (?) 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 37 

friends in the world ", wrote Mazarin, " and his master 
were at Paris in the interests of the King " as he is at 
Brussels in those of the King of Spain ". At the door 
he was met by the captain of his Eminence's guards, 
who said that without an order from the King of 
France, the Cardinal could not receive him. But Maz- 
arin was too cautious not to salve the wound, reflecting 
that anything might occur in the present unsettled state 
of England. An hour later this same captain of the 
guards sought out Bennet and whispered in his ear that 
the Cardinal bade him not be troubled at this refusal, 
which was dictated by due consideration for the King 
of England, and that this should be manifest within two 
days. With this crumb of comfort the resident was 
obliged to retire to the Spanish side of the river and 
await the promised demonstration which two days, cer- 
tainly, did not suffice to bring f orth.^^ 

The conferences were drawing to an end when on 
October 26 Charles arrived at Fuentarabia. Don Luis 
received him with all the chivalrous courtesy that the 
occasion demanded, but the Cardinal declined still to 
depart from the neutrality he had prescribed to himself 
in English affairs, and refused to see the King. He did 
consent at last to give audience to Ormonde, and after- 
wards to Bennet, hinted that assistance would be forth- 
coming from France, and promised to meet Charles at 
Bayonne, which, however, he failed to do. Don Luis 
spoke fluently of the intentions of Spain in the King's 
behalf, but the sole practical gain that Charles carried 
back with him to Flanders was the sum of twenty 

" /. e., Louis XIV. 

*^ This incident is reported by Bennet to Hyde (Clarendon MSS., 63, 
f. 122, Aug. IS, 1659, N. S.), and by Mazarin to Le Tellier. {Lettres du 
Cardinal Masarin, I, 361, Aug. 30, 1659, N. S.) 



38 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

thousand crowns, which he had received as the gift of 
PhiHp IV. 

Bennet was not without some consolation for the fail- 
ure of his plan. His knowledge of Spanish had enabled 
him to act as interpreter for his master, who showed 
him all the old kindness and familiarity, and promised 
that at the next opportunity Sir Harry should be his 
Secretary of State." Happy in this expectation the 
resident returned to Madrid and to the old work of 
coaxing Don Luis to carry out his promises, of which 
the minister was no more capable than he had been be- 
fore. But as earnest of his good- will he oifered the 
command of the Spanish fleet to the Duke of York," 
and it was with reflections upon this subject that Bennet 
filled his letters, until news of the Restoration — which 
came rather as a surprise to him — gave new direction 
to his thoughts. 

That event, which changed the destinies of so many 
men, better and worse, effected a prompt alteration in 
the position of the English resident in Spain. From 
being the independent, almost irresponsible agent of a 
king without a kingdom, he became now an important 
factor in the foreign policy of England. His attitude 
towards the crown to which he was accredited, and his 
relations with the chief advisers of Charles H were to 
be henceforth of political as well as of personal sig- 
nificance. 

Whatever had been the shortcomings of Spain in 
dealing with Charles H, Bennet had no reason to com- 

" When Bennet actually became Secretary of State, the appointment 
was, according to Clarendon, consequent upon " some promises the king 
had made to him when he was at Fuentarabia ". (Continuation of Life, 
par. 430.) 

18 Clarendon MSS., 69, f. 45, Feb. 13, 1660, K. S., Bennet to Charles II. 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 39 

plain of the treatment he personally had received at 
Madrid. While the exiles in Flanders experienced all 
the straits of poverty and all the cruelty of creditors, 
Sir Harry, by Don Luis's kindness, lived in a house of 
his own, rode abroad in a coach, possessed a "rich 
sables coat ", and had ten servants to do him reverence.^ 
This establishment was theoretically accompanied by a 
pension, which fell into arrears with the promptness 
natural to pensions granted by Spain.'"' The contrast 
between his borrowed state and his empty pockets af- 
forded him both vexation and amusement, but he was 
not the man to despise the shadow for lack of the sub- 
stance, and so made the most of the flourishes incident 
to his station. Don Luis covered the worst deficiencies 
in his pension by occasional gifts, and so Bennet drifted 
along comfortably enough until the Restoration. Then 
he felt that this arrangement no longer accorded with 
his master's dignity, or with his own. " I hope it will 
not bee unseasonable," he wrote to Ormonde, " to put 
your Excellence in minde that since I was at Fuen- 
tarabia, Don Lewis hath given mee but 120 pistols to 
bring my guests and mee backe hither, and to paye them 
wholly many months, as my selfe also to this day, from 
whence forwarde I doe not thinke it will become mee 
to aske any more money in this Court, the conclusion 
herein being easy, I doe not make it." ^ 

But this recognition of his changed status was diffi- 
cult to set on foot, owing to the complete disorganiza- 

^® Carte MSS., 213, f. 643, March 6, 1660, N, S., Bennet to Ormonde; 
Clarendon MSS., 57, f. 72, Feb. 6, 1658, N. S., the same to Hyde. 

20 Already in October, 1657, Bennet wrote to Hyde that his allowances 
were two months in arrears. {Ibid., 56, f. 168, Oct. 24, 1657, 
N. S.) 

21 Carte MSS., 46, f. 3, June 9, 1660, N. S. 



40 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

tion of the finances in England at the Restoration. The 
first remittance that Bennet received from his govern- 
ment was a privy seal for one thousand pounds, which 
did not reach him till December, 1660," and he had no 
more until after his return to England in the spring of 
1 66 1. It seems probable that his allowances from the 
Spanish crown were continued to him through the last 
year of his stay, either under the guise of presents from 
Don Luis, or as arrears of his pre-Restoration pension. 
This was no longer disinterested charity. The affection 
with which Charles II regarded Bennet could not have 
escaped the notice of the Spanish minister at Fuentar- 
abia. It was the part of political wisdom to oblige a 
man who might counterbalance the French influence 
which early showed its strength at the English court. 
When Bennet left Madrid, the parting gift which was 
presented to him in the name of Philip IV was so 
bountiful that it enabled him to journey " in a better 
equipage and with more grandeur than any foreign 
Minister had ever returned ".^ 

All this was not without some effect ; Bennet retained 
throughout his life a certain predilection for the country 

22 Nicholas refers to the money as having been sent, in a letter to 
Bennet of Nov. 29, 1660 (State Papers, Spain, 44, f. 255, draft), and the 
warrant is entered in the Treasury Books under the date of Dec. 24, 1660 
{Cal. Treasury Books, 1660-1667, p. 109), where by error Bennet is men- 
tioned as " Sir John Bennett, His Majesty's Resident in Spain ". 

23 Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxiii. Clarendon adds 
that Bennet continued to receive money from Spain after his return to 
England " under the notion of continuing his Dispense " (ibid.), but I 
believe the statement sprang from malice rather than conviction, and is 
not consistent with Bennet's natural caution, or with his practice. When 
the French ambassador offered him a pension after the signature of the 
Treaty of Dover, he declined it, saying that he had never received presents 
of the sort from any prince other than his own master, and though the 
offer was more than once renewed, he persisted in his refusal. (See pp. 
168-170 of this biography.) 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 41 

in which he made his diplomatic debut. He affected 
the CastiHan stateliness of bearing, which the Duke of 
Buckingham found easy to mimic ; ^^ he cultivated the 
CastiHan habit of secrecy ; he had the CastiHan love of 
magnificence, joined with the CastiHan indifference to 
debt. Politically he inclined to an alliance between Eng- 
land and Spain, but in this he was far from quixotic. 
Indeed, he held the English terms so high that Spain 
was never sufficiently hard-pressed to accept them. 

It is hardly surprising that Bennet did not return 
from the court of the Most Catholic King unsuspected 
of a lapse into popery. The doubt sprang partly from 
his intimacy with Bristol, who had announced his con- 
version to the Catholic faith in 1658, and had for that 
reason been deprived of his office of Secretary of State. 
The friendship between the two men was strengthened 
after the Restoration, when they made common cause 
against Hyde's French policy. Rumor easily attributed 
to them the same agreement in the point of religion. 

Among the men who had known Bennet well abroad, 
suspicion as to the state of his conscience may have 
arisen from the repeated efforts he had made to bring 
pressure to bear on Spain by establishing more cordial 
relations between Charles II and the Holy See. From 
time to time he besought Hyde to send to Rome some 
discreet person who should give all possible assurance 

24 " He could never shake off a little air of formality that an Embassy 
into Spain had infected him with ; but it only hung about his mien, without 
the least tincture of it either in his words or behaviour." (Sheffield, 
Works, II, 86.) " His first negotiations were during the treaty of the 
Pyrenees; and though he was unsuccessful in his proceedings for his 
employer, yet he did not altogether lose his time; for he perfectly acquired, 
in his exterior, the serious air and profound gravity of the Spaniards, and 
imitated pretty well their tardiness in business." (Grammont, Memoirs of 
the Court of Charles II by Count Grammont, 143.) 



42 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

of favorable treatment of Catholics in the event of the 
King's reinstatement/" Just how far the King was to 
go in his negotiations with the Pope was to Bennet 
purely a question of expediency.^' Delay in making the 
application would, he thought, force the King " to de- 
clare himself to a point that must utterly undoe him 
at home "."" When the King was at Fuentarabia, Ben- 
net, in despair of joint action by France and Spain for 
his master's reestablishment, may have proposed that 
Charles announce his conversion. But, if so, opposition 
from Ormonde, and perhaps also from other English- 
men who were consulted at the time, gained the day 
against this last attempt to make of the Restoration a 
Catholic crusade.^ It is safe to say that if the pro- 
p's See his letters to Hyde in the Clarendon State Papers, III, 343> 
June 13, 1657, N. S.; 371, Oct. 3, 1657, N, S.; also in the Clarendon MSS., 
55, f. 322, Aug. 29, 1657, N. S.; 56, f. 273, Dec. 5, 1657, N. S.; 58, £. 51, 
May 29, 1658, N. S.; 59, f. 225, Dec. 4, 1658, N. S. 

2^ " . . . you have but one waye left that is by securing yourselves of 
the friendship of the Pope secretly and upon such terms as may reasonably 
give him satisfaction without selling the King's conscience or exposing his 
reputation to the reproaches of those of whose assistance he cannot be 
secured after such an application." {Clarendon State Papers, III, 343, 
June 13, 1657, N. S., Bennet to Hyde.) "... all wise and good men 
will be pleased if Rome can be gained and yet England not be lost." 
{Ibid., 371, Oct. 3, 1657, N. S., the same to the same.) 
^"^ Ibid., 344, June 13, 1657, N. S., the same to the same. 
28 There are two very different versions of this story. The first purports 
to have been related originally by the Duke of Ormonde to Hough, Bishop 
of Worcester. Its substance is as follows: During the King's stay at 
Fuentarabia, Bennet came to Ormonde and complained of the King's 
obstinacy in refusing to declare himself a Roman Catholic, since, when 
once the admission was made, Spain and France would unite for his 
Restoration. He begged Ormonde to persuade the King that his interests 
demanded this step. When Ormonde refused, Bennet argued that the 
King was really a Catholic, but hesitated to make his conversion public. 
Shortly afterwards Bristol also approached Ormonde, to inveigh against 
the folly and madness of Bennet and others who would persuade the King 
to confess himself a Roman Catholic, which would certainly ruin his 
chances of recovering England. (Carte, Life of Ormonde, bk. VI, par. 
91-93). The other version relates that Bristol and Bennet, being both 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 43 

posal came from Bennet, it was the decision of a politi- 
cian and not of a proselyte. 

The last year of Bennet's stay in Spain was far from 
happy in spite of the improvement in material circum- 
stances. He longed to return to England where the re- 
wards of loyalty were being apportioned in his absence ; 
the secretaryship of state which he had coveted went to 
another man. Moreover he was not in sympathy with 
the foreign policy of his government, which, under 
Hyde's leadership, was making advances to France and 
negotiating an alliance with Portugal, involving the 
marriage of the King to Catharine of Braganza. The 
resident would have been the last to advise abandoning 
the profitable trade with Portugal out of consideration 
for Spain,^* but he did not sanction a political alliance 

converts to the Church of Rome, were observed by Culpeper, one day at 
Fuentarabia, accompanying the King from mass. Culpeper afterwards 
sought Bennet out and said: " I see what you are at: Is this the way to 
bring our Master home to his three Kingdoms ? Well, Sir, if ever you and 
I live to see England together, I will have your Head, or you shall have 
mine." And Bennet was so terrified by these words that he did not set 
foot in England until after Culpeper's death, which occurred — very 
abruptly, hints the writer — a few months after the Restoration. (Kennet, 
Complete History, III, 220; see also North's comments on the story, 
Examen, 25-27.) This latter tale has an improbable sound, and its insinu- 
ations that Bennet remained away from England out of fear of Culpeper, 
and that he contrived Culpeper's death, are entirely unfounded. The 
story attributed to Ormonde is more reasonable, and it does not seem 
possible that Hough should have invented it. On the other hand, it is 
difficult to imagine Ormonde confiding the incident to any one. Among 
the many letters preserved among the Carte and Clarendon MSS., written 
from Fuentarabia by Ormonde, Bristol, Culpeper, O'Neill, Armorer, and 
Bennet, there is not a word to indicate that the King's conversion was 
broached at all, or that a dispute on that or any other subject divided the 
King's followers during his stay. Yet — and this seems to confirm the 
story told by Ormonde to Hough — James remarks that Ormonde and 
O'Neill noticed Charles's leaning towards the Catholic religion " in the 
King's journey to Spain ". (Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 40.) 

^ See the account of his argument with Don Luis on this point, in a 
letter to Charles II of Dec. 8, 1660, N. S. (Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 
114.) 



44 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

with a people he had learned to look upon as rebels, an 
alliance which must mean the sacrifice of an advanta- 
geous treaty with Spain. His opposition was felt and re- 
sented by Hyde, and the personal friendship which had 
hitherto united them began to break down.^** Hyde was 
now Lord Chancellor and at the coronation became 
Earl of Clarendon. From such a pinnacle of dignity 
other men looked very small to him, and even a slight 
variation on their part from unquestioning obedience 
was set down as insubordination. Bennet was too 
prudent to venture on insubordination, but he made no 
secret of his disapproval, or of his desire to be recalled. 

2'^ There was, however, no open quarrel between the two men previous 
to Bennet's return, though the Chancellor afterwards wanted to think 
that Bennet had behaved very badly towards him at this time. As an 
instance of his insubordination he declares that Bennet ignored precise 
instructions in regard to the treatment of the Jesuit, Peter Talbot. 
{Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxiii.) But Clarendon's 
instructions were not precise, and be was himself in doubt whether Talbot 
were friend or foe. (See his letter to Bennet of Sept. 6, 1659, N. S., 
Clarendon State Papers, III, 552, and one to Ormonde, Carte, Original 
Letters, II, 277, Nov. 22, 1659, N. S.) Neither is it possible to accept unre- 
servedly Clarendon's statement that the King's consent to the renewal of 
the treaty of 1630 between England and Spain was procured privately by 
O'Neill, at Bennet's suggestion, and was never consulted in England 
{Continuation of Life, par. 399). The renewal does not seem to have been 
debated in Council (the Order in Council for the publication of the day 
of cessation of hostilities makes no mention of the renewal of the treaty. 
Register of the Privy Council, Whitehall, Aug. 3, 1660), but that is far 
from conclusive evidence that Hyde knew nothing about it. The renewal 
was published in England by a proclamation, which must have emanated, 
not from O'Neill, but from the Secretary of State's office, at this time 
practically under Hyde's direction. Copies of the English and Spanish 
proclamations are among the State Papers, Spain (44, £F. 318-319). That 
of Spain is dated Sept. 11, 1660, N. S.; that of England, on the day of 
cessation, Sept. 10/20, 1660. The renewal was almost immediately recog- 
nized as a blunder, for the Treaty of 1630 prohibited either party from 
giving assistance to the other's enemies, and from entering into any treaty 
prejudicial to the other. It was embarrassing to Hyde, in view of the fact 
that English commissioners were at work with the Portuguese ambassador 
upon a treaty, to have to explain away this engagement to the choleric 
Baron de Batteville, ambassador of Philip IV. Therefore he was glad to 
throw the blame — in retrospect at least — on Bennet. 



RESIDENT IN SPAIN 45 

In England the good-natured Daniel O'Neill joined his 
petition to Bennet's, and easily obtained the King's con- 
sent.^^ Letters of revocation were despatched at the end 
of January, 1661/' and in April Sir Harry Bennet re- 
appeared in London with that grandeur of equipage so 
offensive to his old friend the Lord Chancellor Claren- 
don.^^ 

^ Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 399. 

^2 The recall was not carried through without the knowledge of either 
Secretary of State as Clarendon asserts {ibid.; also, Clarendon State 
Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxiii), for Nicholas, in a letter to Bennet of 
Jan. 31, 1 660/1, writes: " You will, ere this comes to your handes, have I 
question not, welcomed my last, wherein I sent you his Majesty's leave to 
come over, signified in three letters, one to the King of Spain, one to Don 
Luis, and a third to yourselfe." (State Papers, Spain, 44, f. 309, draft.) 

33 I have not been able to find the exact date of Bennet's arrival in 
England; it is possible that he was in time for the coronation in April. 
The first mention of his presence in London occurs in a letter from 
Nicholas to Joseph Kent, of May 2, 1661 {Cat. St. P., Dom., 1660-1661, p. 
580). The last letter which Nicholas appears to have despatched to him 
at Madrid bears the date of Feb. 14 (State Papers, Spain, 44, f. 387, 
draft). Clarendon says it was not known that he had left Madrid until 
he had reached Paris (Continuation of Life, par, 399). 



CHAPTER IV. 
Secretary of State. 

" The truth is wee have traveled sufficiently, 'tis time 
wee went home to putt our discretion in practise." '' 
Thus Bennet wrote from Spain on the eve of the Res- 
toration. He was naturally discreet and he had learned 
finesse in five years of waiting on the pleasure of the 
Escurial. He arrived in London with the ceremony 
becoming a personage of importance, and he appeared 
at Court with the confidence of a man whose fortune is 
made. In reality he was entering late, and with the dis- 
advantage of having no very presentable claim, the con- 
test for reward and place that had raged unceasingly 
since Charles had returned to his kingdom. His sole 
standing at Court was that of gentleman of the bed- 
chamber, the profits of which would certainly not justify 
the manner of life he had learned in Spain. His family 
could be neither help nor hinderance to him. Sir John 
Bennet had died in 1658,^ his wife the following year,' 
and the estate at Harlington was now the inheritance of 
the eldest son, with whom Harry Bennet was on amica- 
ble but not intimate terms. His younger brothers, like 
himself, were endeavoring to attract the royal favor. 

Bennet was now forty-three years old. He had not 
the distinguished beauty of the Earl of Bristol, nor the 
grace and sparkle of the Duke of Buckingham, but he 

^ Carte MSS., 221, f. i, April 10, 1660, N. S., Bennet to Ormonde. 

2 Parish Registers of Harlington, Middlesex, 

3 Ihid. 

46 



SECRETARY OF STATE 47 

was a man of stately, ministerial presence. The gran- 
dee's dignity he had cultivated became his tall figure 
well, yet it was recognized as exotic and furnished con- 
siderable amusement to the wags of the Court. He 
devoted much thought to his appearance, and was al- 
ways richly dressed — " an arrant fop, from top to toe ",* 
jeers Buckingham, who should have been a judge of 
f opper}^ His features were regular and not unpleasing, 
but the eyes were somewhat too pale in color and 
slightly prominent, the chin heavy.' Across his nose he 
wore a strip of black courtplaster covering the scar he 
had received at Andover. " Scars in the face ", remarks 
the author of Grammont's Memoirs, " commonly give 
a man a certain fierce and martial air, which sets him 
off to advantage, but it was quite the contrary with him, 
and this remarkable plaster so well suited his myster- 
ious looks, that it seemed an addition to his gravity and 
self-sufiiciency." ^ Sir John Evelyn thought him "the 
best bred and courtly person his Majesty has about 
him ",^ and Clarendon, at a time when he hated Bennet 
most bitterly, admitted : " he may well be reckoned in 
the number of the finest gentlemen of the time ".* 
Among friends, or with persons he intended to flatter, 
he would relax the formality of his bearing, and no man 

* Buckingham's Works, II, 163, Advice to a Painter, To Draw My 
L. A ton, Grand Minister of State. 

5 " Two goggle-eyes, so clear, tho' very dead, 

That one may see thro' them, quite thro' his head." {Ibid.) 
Portraits of Arlington are reproduced in Birch's Heads of Illustrious 
Persons, in Lodge's Portraits, and in the Memoirs of Grammont (Harding, 
ed., London, 1793). A portrait by Lely in very poor preservation hangs 
just outside the door of the dining-hall of Christ Church. It represents 
Arlington in his robes of the Garter, holding the white staff of Lord 
Chamberlain. 

« Memoirs of the Court of Charles II by Count Grammont, 143. 

''Diary, Sept. 10, 1677. 

* Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxi. 



48 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

at Court could talk more charmingly/ The testimony 
of an enemy acknowledges his gift for " the best turns 
of wit in particular conversation that I have known "." 

" The King ", says Clarendon, " received him with 
great kindness, as a man whose company he always 
liked." " Charles was delighted with the foreign mien 
of his resident, and in jesting allusion to the proposed 
Portuguese marriage, which he knew was hateful to 
Bennet, threatened to cut his Spanish beard with a pair 
of Portuguese scissors."^ The gay party that assembled 
nightly under the leadership of Barbara Palmer, the 
King's mistress, welcomed Sir Harry to its revels. He 
was welcomed also by the Spanish ambassador, the 
Baron de Batteville, whose acquaintance he had made 
long ago at San Sebastian. But the Count d'Estrades, 
ambassador of Louis XIV, in whose instructions Ben- 
net was bracketed with the obnoxious Earl of Bristol as 
a partisan of Spain, " watched him suspiciously, finding 
him more difficult to circumvent than the Earl, whose 
courses were open to the day. 

At the King's command. Clarendon used his influ- 
ence to obtain a seat for Bennet in the Cavalier Parlia- 
ment which met for its first session a few weeks after 
his return to England. He was accordingly chosen as 
member for Callington in Cornwall early in June, 1661, 
although, as the Chancellor afterwards declared, " he 

^ Clarendon says : "... he would speak well and reasonably to any 
purpose." (.Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxi.) Pepys con- 
firms this: "He speaks well, and hath pretty slight superficial parts, I 
believe." (Diary, Feb. 24, 1666/7.) 

" Temple, Works, II, 492. 

" Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxiii. 

" Hist. MSS. Comm., 5th Report, 151, MSS. of the Duke of Sutherland, 
May 7, 1661, Francis Newport to Richard Leveson. 

"Arch. Aff. ;^tr., Angleterre, 76, f. 175, Instruction baillee a Monsieur 
le Comte d'Estrades . . . du 23 May, 1661. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 49 

knew no more of the constitution and laws of England 
than he did of China "." 

Bennet had at once to decide whether he would ally 
himself with the party of the government, or with its 
opponents. The first included the men under whose 
auspices he had gone as resident to Spain; it was or- 
ganized, and in occupation of the highest places in the 
gift of the crown. The Lord Chancellor commanded 
it. His lieutenants were the Earl of Southampton, 
Lord Treasurer, and the Duke of Ormonde, to whom 
the government of Ireland had been restored. The 
senior Secretary of State, Sir Edward Nicholas, did 
Clarendon's bidding in the transaction of foreign af- 
fairs. The Chancellor's opinion prevailed in the work- 
ing committee of the Council. In the House of Com- 
mons he had formed a clique of men of fortune and 
position, who used their influence in the way that he 
deemed advisable. His orthodoxy won to his support 
the strength of the restored Anglican Church. The 
Duke of York, heir-presumptive to the throne, was his 
son-in-law. 

But behind this front of power lurked the weakness 
that was to destroy it. Clarendon could dictate; he 
could not lead. He governed according to his own 
lights, conceding as little to the wisdom of his col- 
leagues as to public opinion. He knew that the King 
did not enjoy his society, but he reckoned on the royal 
gratitude and his own usefulness to preserve him. A 

" Contimiation of Life, par. 400-404. From Clarendon's account one 
would infer that Bennet was not a member of Parliament until 1663, but 
his name appears for the first time in a committee list of June 21, 1661 
{Commons' Journal). At the general election Callington had returned 
Sir Allen Broderick. But Sir Allen had been returned by Orford also, 
and chose to sit for the latter. Callington, then, at Clarendon's suggestion, 
elected Bennet. 



50 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

future in which he should be no longer useful was be- 
yond his imagination. 

The opposition to his regime was hardly sufficiently 
fused to be a party at all. It comprehended all who 
for any cause were enemies of the Chancellor: the 
clowns of the Court, whose silliness he rebuked ; " the 
Lady " whom he refused to honor ; greedy courtiers to 
whose grants he refused the seal; political dilettantes, 
such as the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Bris- 
tol, whom he thwarted. These were seemingly con- 
temptible rivals, but they were the companions most 
diverting, and therefore most dear to the King. There 
were, however, weightier elements: men who disliked 
the religious settlement promoted by Clarendon; men 
who disliked his foreign policy; and men of capacity 
and ambition in the Council or in Parliament who were 
ill content with the humble parts they must play under 
the autocratic Chancellor. 

The self-appointed leader of this faction was the 
Earl of Bristol, who now regarded himself as the 
champion of the English Catholics, though somewhat 
against the will of the more thoughtful among them. 
The King had always an indulgent affection for him, 
and this was cemented by the assiduity with which 
Bristol courted the imperious mistress. By reason of 
his faith he could not hold office or sit in Council, but 
Charles, in spite of the Chancellor's admonitions, kept 
no secrets from him, and he meddled as he pleased. 
His determination to secure toleration for the Catholics, 
his opposition to the Portuguese marriage, and his dar- 
ing speeches in the House of Lords, irritated the Chan- 
cellor to the last degree, though he knew himself to be 
still the stronger. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 51 

It is possible that Bennet was already committed to 
the Opposition before his return from Spain, but it is 
more probable that a man of his discretion would not 
be in haste to array himself against the party in power. 
The Chancellor, though suspicious of his Spanish 
sympathies, was willing to play him off against Sir 
Charles Berkeley, a favorite with both the King and the 
Duke of York, whom Clarendon detested for his en- 
couragement of Charles in his pleasures, as well as for 
more personal reasons/^ But Bennet, seeing that he was 
expected to draw the Chancellor's chestnuts from the 
fire without advantage to himself, retired from the con- 
test and made friends with Berkeley, though the two 
had been on very bad terms when Bennet went off to 
Spain." From Ormonde, whom he always sincerely 
admired, Bennet had hoped some activity in his be- 
half," but the Lord Lieutenant shunned other men's 
quarrels whenever possible, and was careful not to cross 
his friend the Chancellor. Feeling himself slighted, 
Bennet reverted naturally to his earliest patron, the 
Earl of Bristol, and with him made a last attempt to 
break off the treaty with Portugal. Although he held 
no office justifying interference in politics, his knowl- 
edge of Spanish, a tongue little heard in England, made 

15 " The chancellor brought Sir Henry Bennet, afterwards Earl of 
Arlington, into the King's favour, who, soon after, turned against him. 
He meant to oppose by him, Falmouth." (Macpherson, Original Papers, 
I, 23.) " Arlington came back from vSpain, and tried to get into favour, 
supported at first by the chancellor and Bristol against Falmouth." (Ibid., 
24-25.) 

" Clarke, James II, I, 275. 

" Bennet told O'Neill that before his return from Spain he had believed 
that Ormonde would contribute more to his advancement than was 
actually the case. (Carte MSS., 32, f. 346, April 4, 1663, O'Neill to 
Ormonde.) 



52 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

him useful in communicating with Batteville/^ But 
the diplomacy of Louis XIV, who, for his own reasons, 
desired to have the flickering rebellion in Portugal sus- 
tained by the English alliance, and the determination of 
Clarendon, who overbore a considerable opposition in 
Council, gained the day. The marriage treaty was 
signed in June, and in September, in consequence of a 
street brawl for precedence between the servants of the 
French and Spanish embassies, Batteville was ordered 
by the King to keep his house. When Bennet at the 
ambassador's request asked permission to visit him, 
Charles replied shortly that if he had business with 
Batteville he could apply to the Secretary of State." 

In this first trial of strength with the greatest man in 
England Bennet had won nothing more profitable than 
a snubbing, but in the next encounter he was more suc- 
cessful. The one important charge at Court yet unfilled 
was that of Privy Purse which the King had promised 
to Clarendon for one of his relatives.^" But Charles was 
offended at the opposition which the Chancellor had 
recently offered in Parliament to certain proposals for 
the relief of Catholics, though he had previously prom- 
ised not to contest them."^ Als a rebuke to this breach of 

18 " L'Ambassadeur d'Espagne a eu depuis huict Jours trois audiences 
secretes ou il a este tousjours conduit par le Chevalier Benet." (Arch. 
Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 75, f. 134, Aug. 29, 1661, N. S., D'Estrades to 
Louis XIV.) D'Estrades's instructions state that Batteville " est appuye 
dans ses Negociations asses ouvertement par le Comte de Bristol et le 
Chevalier Benet". {Ibid., y6, f. 175, May 23, 1661, N. S.) 

^^Ibid., 75, f. 260, Dec. i, 1661, N. S., Batailler to [Lionne ?]. 

20 Clarendon, in telling the story {Continuation of Life, par. 400; 
Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxiii), does not mention that 
the claimant was his kinsman, but D'Estrades was informed that the 
Chancellor intended the place for " a Lord, one of his friends and rela- 
tives ". (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 75, f. 133, Aug. 29, 1661, N. S., 
D'Estrades to Louis XIV.) 

^Ibid., f. 132. 



SECRETARY OF STATE S3 

faith, the King on August i6 gave the privy purse to 
Sir Henry Bennet. To Clarendon's protest, as well 
against the public slight to himself in the elevation of 
his enemy,'''' as against the disappointment of his rela- 
tive, Charles replied by referring to the matter of the 
Catholics, and added that Bennet was better suited to 
the place.''* But though the King was resolved to prove 
himself the master of Clarendon, he was no less re- 
solved to be the master of Bristol and Bennet, and, 
when these two ventured to criticize the Chancellor in 
his presence, gave them to understand that he knew the 
Earl of Clarendon's virtues and defects better than 
they, and that he wished them to live at peace with him. 
The next day he brought Bristol and Clarendon to- 
gether and forced them to a reconciliation in which 
Bennet was doubtless included."* 

If Bennet had been content with the privy purse, 
Clarendon might in the lapse of time have forgotten 
his grudge, but to a man avid of wealth and power this 
office was only an insignificant beginning. In January, 
1662, Sir Harry begged his master to appoint him am- 
bassador to France, and was strongly seconded by the 
Earl of Bristol and Barbara Palmer, now Lady Castle- 
maine. Charles was on the point of consenting when 
rumor brought the matter to the astonished ears of the 
Count d'Estrades, who hastened to inform the King of 

22 According to D'Estrades, Bennet was already in August, 1661, the 
enneniy declare of the Chancellor. (Ibid.) 

23 Tjyid. I have followed D'Estrades's account throughout. He is 
always fair to Clarendon, who was his political ally. Clarendon's nar- 
rative of the aifair of the Catholics (Continuation of Life, par. 287-290) 
makes no mention of his own attitude, nor does he connect this matter 
with his disappointment about the privy purse. 

2* Arch. Afif. Etr., Angleterre, 75, f. 133, Aug. 29, 1661, N. S., D'Es- 
trades to Louis XIV. 



54 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

France. Louis commanded his ambassador to obstruct 
by all possible means the appointment of a man so 
ardent in the interests of Spain. It was not very diffi- 
cult. D'Estrades represented to Clarendon the danger 
of entrusting what was certain to be an important 
negotiation to a person in whom the Chancellor himself 
had no confidence. Clarendon was easily convinced, 
and in turn pointed out to Charles the resentment that 
the King of France might conceive if a man suspected 
of being a pensioner of Philip IV were sent to the 
Court of St. Germain. Unable to combat this argument, 
the King gave way and named as his ambassador Lord 
Holies, who belonged to Clarendon's party."* 

If Bennet recognized the Chancellor's hand in this 
disappointment, he made no sign, but continued on 
terms of outward friendliness with him through the 
summer of 1662.""^ They worked together to effect a 
compromise between Charles and his wretched foreign 
queen in regard tQ the admission of the Countess of 
Castlemaine to be lady of the queen's bedchamber."" 
Bennet began to believe that Clarendon had put aside 
his resentment, and would no longer oppose his ad- 
vancement, but in this he was speedily undeceived. 

At about the time when Bennet was obliged to forego 
the embassy to France, he had received, by Lady Cas- 
tlemaine's persuasion with the King, promise of the 

25 D'Estrades, Lettres, I, 232, Feb. 6, 1662, N. S., the same to the same; 
ibid., 237, Feb. 12, 1662, N. S., Louis XIV to D'Estrades; ibid., 263, 
Feb., 1662, D'Estrades to Louis XIV. 

26 Among the Clarendon MSS. (77, £.71) there is a cordial letter from 
Bennet to Clarendon, written from Deal, whither he had gone with the 
King to meet the Queen Mother on her arrival from France. The letter is 
dated July 22, 1662. 

27 Carte MSS., 32, f. 23, Sept. 9, 1662, O'NeiU to Ormonde. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 55 

extremely lucrative place of Postmaster General.'^ The 
Post Office had been farmed out in 1660 to one Colonel 
Henry Bishop for a term of seven years/^ but many 
complaints of dishonesty and inefficiency — instigated, 
perhaps, by persons who hoped to succeed to his place — 
had been made against him, and Bennet hoped to force 
the surrender of his lease.^" He had approached Clar- 
endon in the matter, and believed he had won his sup- 
port. But when the question was discussed in Council, 
the Chancellor changed his mind, and with his legal 
expertness effectively quashed Bennet's case. " Our 
f rind Harry Bennet iss in disorder ", reported O'Neill 
to Ormonde. " My Lord chancelor uppon whome hee 
depended in the bissines of the post office, att a hearing 
the other day att counsell, hee soe justifyed Bishop that 
the matter iss wher it was, and will bee soe until his 
terme is out for ought I see, though the King iss 
strangly troubled att it, and sayes hee will have it 
tryed att law. The passione I find the King in for this 
afront ass hee tearms itt, makes mee feare My lord 
chancelor has done that that heele not find his account 
in, for this puts the King uppon an other designe that 
Henry Bennet will find more his advantage in and that 
will less please the chancelor." ^^ 

28 D'Estrades, Lettres, I, 233, Feb. 6, 1662, N. S., D'Estrades to 
Louis XIV. 

29 Cal. St. P., Dom.j 1660-1661, p, 209. 

2° For the complaints against Bishop, see ibid., 1661-1662, pp. 55-57. To 
this latter date, approximately, should be assigned a petition of Sir Henry 
Bennet and Charles Cornwallis (miscalendared under Dec. ? 1660, p. 445) 
for a grant of the office of Postmaster General (that to Henry Bishop 
being void in law) with reference thereon to the Attorney General, order- 
ing that the petition be granted if Bishop's patent be found void. The 
Attorney General, however, decided in Bishop's favor (ibid., 1661-1662, p. 
92, Attorney General Palmer to Secretary Nicholas). 

31 Carte MSS., 7,2, f. 26, Sept. 13, 1662. 



56 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

With a promptness seldom granted to prophecy, 
O'Neill's premonition was fulfilled within a month. 
On October 15, 1662, Bennet was sworn Secretary of 
State and took his seat at the Council board. This 
change had necessitated the removal of one of the sec- 
retaries then incumbent. The elder of these, Sir Ed- 
ward Nicholas, had been a loyal servant of Charles I, 
and of his son, though not a man of brilliant initiative. 
The other, Sir WilHam Morice, had been appointed on 
the eve of the Restoration at the suggestion of his 
kinsman, the all-powerful General Monck. Morice 
seems to have been an honorable, sober, industrious 
gentleman, but he was completely at sea in foreign af- 
fairs. Monck's notable recommendation of him — that 
he could speak French and write shorthand — was an 
exaggeration of his fitness. He could not speak French. 
Only the minor affairs of his office were entrusted to 
him ; he had not even lodgings at Whitehall, and seldom 
appeared at Court, having no admiration for the amuse- 
ments that prevailed there. 

But for the still-feared power of Monck, it would 
have been Sir William Morice who had made way for 
the favorite of the King. As his removal was not prac- 
ticable, it had to be Sir Edward Nicholas. A sense of 
shame, to which Charles was not always impervious, 
made him provide an honorable retirement for his old 
servant. Using Jack Ashburnham, a gentleman of the 
bedchamber, as intermediary, he offered to relieve 
Nicholas of his duties which must be onerous to one of 
his years, and promised a handsome recompense for his 
place."' Nicholas, though disappointed that his son 

32 Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 223, Oct. 7, 1662, Nicholas to Ormonde. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 57 

was not to succeed him, did not at first think ill of his 
bargain.^^ Soon, however, the whisperings of the Court 
over the causes and consequences of the change made 
him suspicious.^* Charles had wanted Clarendon to fa- 
cilitate the arrangement, but from this the Chancellor 
excused himself and held entirely aloof, thereby pleas- 
ing neither the King, Nicholas, nor Bennet.^' 

But the King's mind was made up : Nicholas retired 
and Bennet succeeded him. Clarendon accepted the 
change as cheerfully as he could, attributing the ap- 
pointment rather to the King's personal affection for 
Bennet — however unfortunate — than to an intention 
to alter the ministry. He scouted the suggestion that 
Nicholas was removed against his will, or that he him- 
self was likely to suffer the same fate.^" At the King's 
desire he acquiesced in another reconciliation with Ben- 
net, the previous one having been impaired by the 
quarrel over the Post Office." 

The secretaryship of state was at this time an office 
whose powers and importance were limited only by the 

2^ " I confesse ", he wrote to Ormonde, " if I may have such a recom- 
pence as is proposed, I shall for my owne particular blesse God and the 
King for it." (Ibid.) 

^* Ihid.) 225, Oct. II, 1662, the same to the same. 

3s " I can assure you the King iss very much unsatisfyed with the 
Chancellor, first for the oppositione and then for the litle assistance hee 
gave him in the removing of Mr. Secretary Nicholas to his satisfaction 
which mought easily have beene done for the good man was not unwilling 
to retyre uppon good tearmes; I doubt hee is not soe now, which is at- 
tributed to the other more then to himself. His slowness in interposing 
made the King make use of Jack Ashburnham ..." (Carte MSS., 32, 
f. 67, Oct. II, 1662, O'Neill to Ormonde.) 

^^ Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 228, Nov. i, 1662, Clarendon to 
Ormonde. 

3T " Le Chevalier Benet fut declare hier Secretaire d'Etat; le Roi 
d'Angleterre lui ordonna d'aller voir le Chancelier et de bien vivre avec 
lui; je crois que I'Amitie sera mediocre entre ces deux Personnes." (D'Es- 
trades, Lettres, I, 395, Oct. zy, 1662, N. S., D'Estrades to Louis XIV.) 



S8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

will of the sovereign. Thus, though Morice and Ben- 
net were nominally equal in dignity, the former, lacking 
the confidence of the Court, was but a clerk, while the 
latter, who " had the art of observing the King's temper 
and managing it beyond all the men of that time ",** 
was a minister whose eminence encroached on the pre- 
miership so jealously guarded by Clarendon. 

For the transaction of business and the control of 
correspondence relating to foreign affairs, the countries 
with which England had diplomatic relations were in 
theory equally apportioned between the two secretaries, 
while Ireland and the colonies were included in the 
province of the one elder in office.^* Practically, Ben- 
net's superiority was plainly admitted in the partition : 
He had Spain, France, Portugal, the Dutch, Flanders, 
Italy, Savoy, Turkey, Barbary, and the Indies, leaving to 
Morice the relatively unimportant cognizance of the af- 
fairs of Denmark, Sweden, the Empire and the Ger- 
man princes, the Hansa Towns, Russia, Poland, Swit- 
zerland, and of all promiscuous, unlocalized concerns. 
But when any delicate negotiation fell within Morice's 
province, its handling was sooner or later taken over by 
Bennet. At Ormonde's request, Irish affairs passed 
through the hands of the new secretary.*" Colonial busi- 
ness also gradually drifted into his office, to the exclu- 
sion of Morice. 

These responsibilities were by no means all that fell 
to the secretaries of state : they were not only the For- 

3s Burnet, Own Time, I, i8o. 

23 Beatson, Index, I, 397. 

4" Carte MSS., 143, f. 15, Oct. 15, 1662, Ormonde to the King. It is 
clear from a letter from Ormonde's secretary, Sir George Lane, to Morice 
(Clarendon MSS., 80, f. 227, Oct. 14, 1663), that the latter had claimed 
the Irish correspondence as his right. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 59 

eign Office and the Colonial Office, but the Home Office 
as well. They supervised the Post Office, and managed 
the intelligence or secret service which supplied the gov- 
ernment with information of all that occurred at home 
or abroad. They exercised the censorship of the press. 
All communications between sovereign and subjects, 
of what nature soever, passed through their hands. 
Persons suspected of conspiring against the peace of 
the kingdom or against the King's person or authority, 
were examined by one or both of the secretaries. Both 
were, by virtue of their office, members of the Privy 
Council and of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and 
one or the other was a member of every other com- 
mittee formed from the Council. It was an unwritten 
law that one secretary must be a member of the House 
of Commons."" 

Bennet entered office just after the government had 
passed through a grave crisis, and while it was still 
uncertain of safety. When Parliament rose on May 
19, 1662, the King's assent was registered to two ex- 
tremely unpopular measures of taxation, the chimney 
tax and the excise, and also to a still more dangerous 
measure, the Act of Uniformity, which, designed to 
enforce the strictest conformity to the Church of Eng- 
land, struck down the hopes of Presbyterians and In- 
dependents alike. So menacing was the dissatisfac- 
tion throughout the country that Bennet had advised 
the King to prepare for insurrection in the interval of 

^ The actual scope of Bennet's duties, exclusive of foreign affairs, can 
be best determined by an examination of the papers which came in and 
went out of his office during the years of his secretaryship, 1662-1674, as 
abstracted in the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic. See also Beatson's 
Index, I, 397; Nicholas Faunt's "Discourse touching the Office of Prin- 
cipal Secretary of Estate ", etc., 1592 (ed. Charles Hughes, English His- 
torical Review, XX, 499). 



6o THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

three months before the act should go into effect, by- 
raising new troops to hold the North and West and 
withdrawing a regiment from Dunkirk to keep the 
peace in London.*^ But he opposed the demand of the 
Presbyterians to be exempted by the King from the 
operation of the act, believing that such exemption 
would publish the panic of the government and irritate 
the House of Commons without being broad enough to 
appease the discontent."^ Nor did he think the situation 
would be bettered by calling a new parliament — another 
suggestion of the Presbyterians. The present parlia- 
ment, Bennet told the King, was '' the onely bulwarque 
now betwixt the disaffected people and the govern- 
ment ", and its dissolution would be " one of the great- 
est misfortunes that could befall you ".^ With the 
wariness of parliaments that always distinguished him, 
he advised the King to await the next session, and then 
to use his influence for a mitigation of the act.'^ 

Charles resolved to follow this advice. The standing 
forces were slightly increased, and the act went into 
effect without exemption or mitigation on the twenty- 

*2 Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 198-201, Bennet to the King, without 
date, but from internal evidence, written in June or July, 1662. 

*3 Ibid. Also a letter from Bennet to Ormonde of Sept. 9, 1662: " The 
not concluding any mitigation fitt upon the Act of Uniformity will, wee be- 
leeve, fasten our owne party and the Parlement better to us, whereas the 
indulgence that was proposed would certainly have disobliged them and 
not gaind the other party, which had been an unhappy midle to have 
affected." (Carte MSS., 221, f. 9.) 

*4 Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 199, Bennet to the King. 

45 " after the authority bee thus strengthened, should your 

Majesty bee pleased to declare you will effectively employ yourself e, at 
the next meeting of the Parliament to obtaine a mitigation of those things 
that are now complained of as grievous; and then, I say, it will bee rea- 
sonable (and not a moment sooner) to use that easinesse and complyance 
which in the beginning, will bee looked upon only as a marque of extraord- 
inary feare, and hasten the discontented partys to attempt something upon 
your Majesty and your government." (Ibid., 201.) 



SECRETARY OF STATE 6i 

fourth of August, 1662. On that day eighteen hundred 
non-conformist clergymen were deprived of their bene- 
fices.^ They submitted quietly, nor was concerted re- 
sistance to the law encountered anywhere. But as the 
autumn drew on, meekness gave way to unrest and 
defiance, not without slight symptoms of conspiracy, 
and this furnished arguments to the men who were 
urging conciliation on the King.*^ 

Foremost among these was Lord Ashley, Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, who belonged to the Anti-Claren- 
donians though his wife was a niece of the Lord Treas- 
urer Southampton. In person he was slight — almost 
emaciated. A long nose, a pointed chin, an ironic 
mouth, humorous, eager eyes, gave warning of the 
boldest mind and the quickest wit discoverable at the 
Court of Charles IL He was the most effective orator 
in the House of Lords and criticized the government 
quite fearlessly, even under the presiding eye of the 
Lord Chancellor, who had learned to dread the peculiar 
magnetic cadence of his voice. Too restless and too 
selfish to be a statesman, he was an exceptionally able 
politician, unhampered by prejudices, conventions, or 
scruples. Like his friend Bennet, Ashley was latitudina- 
rian in religious matters, and ready to extend as much 
liberty to non-conformists, whose political patron he 

*8 Bate, The Declaration of Indulgence, 1672, 29, and Appendix II. 
The number is usually given as twenty-four hundred. 

'" Many arrests were made at this time on suspicion of plots against the 
government, and a few executions were ordered, as Bennet wrote Or- 
monde, " to justify that there was a plott which few will beleeve ". 
(Carte MSS., 46, f. 19, Nov. 22, 1662.) Bate (p. 29) says that disturb- 
ances were few and far between, but the French ambassador, Comenge, 
reported that the ill-feeling gradually increased, that some plots had been 
discovered, and that the royal family was constantly threatened by the 
fanatics. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 79, f. 34» Jan. 22, 1663, N. S., 
Comenge to Louis XIV.) 



62 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

desired to be, as the times would admit. Joined with 
him was Lord Robartes, the Privy Seal, a Presbyterian 
who wanted toleration for his co-religionists, and the 
Earl of Bristol, who demanded relief for the Catholics. 

These men united in reminding Charles of that care 
for tender consciences which he had promised in the 
Declaration issued from Breda prior to the Restoration. 
Their arguments made the greater impression on 
Charles because he was relieved of the daily monitor- 
ship of Clarendon, who, attacked by his old enemy, the 
gout, kept his bed at Worcester House. Spurred on by 
Ashley and encouraged by Bennet's more cautious 
counsel, the King determined to issue a general Declar- 
ation which should allay the discontent without imping- 
ing upon the authority of Parliament. This document, 
which is called, rather misleadingly, the First Declara- 
tion of Indulgence, was drafted by Bennet, and made 
public on the twenty-sixth of December, 1662.^ 

The purpose of the Declaration, as one finds it stated 
therein, was to reassure His Majesty's loving and duti- 
ful subjects on four points: first, his determination to 
uphold the Act of Indemnity f secondly, his abhorrence 

<* James II speaks of the Declaration as having been solicited by 
" Roberts, Ashley and others ". (Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 36-37.) 
Burnet lays responsibility for the suggestion on Bristol and the Catholics. 
" Bennet ", he says, " did not meet with them, but was known to be in 
the secret; as the Lord Stafford told me in the Tower a little before his 
death." [Own Time, I, 345.) Comenge wrote that Bennet drafted the 
Declaration, and this is to be inferred also from Clarendon's account 
(Lister, Life of Clarendon. Ill, 233, Jan. 31, 1663, Clarendon to Or- 
monde). Bennet, in writing to Ormonde, assumes the attitude of author- 
ship: "I herewith sende your Grace his Majesty's Declaration which is 
what I promisd you in my last. It is finishd but this evening and I with 
the same dispatch desird to sende it you, that it might not bee subject to 
any ill relations from others." (Carte MSS., 221, f. 15, Dec. 30, 1662.) 

« The Act of Indemnity, passed by the Convention Parliament in 1660, 
offered pardon and indemnity to all political offenders — the Regicides 
excepted — for acts committed between June i, 1637, and June 24, 1660. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 63 

of a rule by military force ; thirdly, his intention, now 
that the uniformity of the Church had been established 
by his care, to carry out the Declaration of Breda in the 
point of relief to tender consciences. " We shall make 
it Our special Care so far forth as in Us lies, without 
invading the Freedom of Parliament, to incline their 
Wisdom at this next approaching Sessions, to concur 
with Us in the making some such Act for that purpose, 
as may enable Us to exercise with a more universal 
satisfaction, that Power of Dispensing which We con- 
ceive to be inherent in Us. Nor can We doubt of their 
chearful cooperating with Us in a thing wherein We 
do conceive Our selves so far engaged, both in Honour, 
and in what We owe to the Peace of Our Domin- 

}} BO 

ions ... 

Lastly, while repelling all insinuations of a yearning 
for popery in the royal breast, and professing approval 
of laws intended to hinder the spread of that doctrine, 
the King admitted his dislike of the sanguinary laws 
against Catholics, and avowed : " We shall with as 
much freedom profess unto the world, that it is not in 
Our Intention to exclude Our Roman Catholick Sub- 
jects . . . from all share in the benefit of such an Act, as 
in pursuance of Our Promises, the wisdom of Our 
Parliament shall think fit to offer unto Us for the ease 
of tender Consciences." " 

Both Dissenters and Catholics might reasonably 
wonder how their status was affected by this announce- 
ment. Clearly Bennet had not departed from the opin- 
ion he had previously expressed to the King, that miti- 
gation of the act was not safely within the scope of the 

™Hij Majesties Declaration to All His loving Subjects, Dec. 26, 1662. 
London: printed by John Bill and Christopher Barker. 
« Ibid. 



64 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

prerogative. The King asserted that the power of dis- 
pensing lay inherent in him, but to exercise it he must 
be enabled by act of Parliament. Until Parliament 
should meet, therefore, the Act of Uniformity remained 
intact. Why, then, was the Declaration put forth at 
all ? Why did not the King wait until he could address 
both Houses in a speech from the throne ? Ostensibly, 
of course, to soothe the present unrest by promising a 
remedy, but really to make that promise so overt that 
Parliament must feel engaged to fulfil it, unless the 
Houses were prepared to hazard a quarrel with the 
King. The art of this proceeding savors of Ashley 
rather than of Bennet, who, unprompted, would have 
preferred to wait until the meeting of Parliament. The 
matter and the form of the Declaration are almost cer- 
tainly Bennet's. 

In taking this step it had not been Charles's intention 
to ignore or to slight the Lord Chancellor. Twice he 
sent Bennet over to Worcester House with the draft of 
the Declaration. Clarendon heard it, suggested certain 
changes which Bennet made accordingly, and seemed to 
approve in so far as a man with the gout could bring 
himself to approve of anything. " I told him ", wrote 
the Chancellor afterwards, '' by that time he had writ 
as many declarations as I had done, he would find they 
are a very ticklish commodity." '^ 

" Ticklish " proved to be a gentler adjective than the 
sensation made by the Declaration merited. Non- 
conformist opinion that had condemned the Act of 
Uniformity, was now diverted to fall upon the Declara- 
tion instead, in which the Anglicans for once joined 
them in all cordiality. Protestant Dissent refused to 

^2 Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 2ZZ, Jan. 31, 1662/3, Clarendon to 
Ormonde. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 65 

have anything to do with a toleration which included 
the Catholics/' 

The fate of the Declaration lay, by its own admission, 
in the hands of Parliament, which reconvened on Feb- 
ruary 18, 1663. The Court had made great effort to 
secure a favorable majority in the Commons, calling on 
all members upon whom it could rely, to attend, and 
flattering the men to whom the House was most willing 
to listen.^ The speech from the throne referred con- 
fidently to the Declaration, and explained that its 
purpose was not to grant a toleration to Catholics, 
nor to enable them to hold office.'' All in vain. The 
Commons believed that the Court would not have used 
so much ingenuity in any but a very bad cause. If the 
King wished to relieve the Catholics as a reward for 
their fidelity, why did he not say so openly to his faith- 
ful Commons ? What dark purpose of betraying Eng- 
land to popery might not underlie the subtlety of this 
proceeding? In their vote of thanks the Commons 
excepted that portion of the King's speech which dealt 

^^ " That which here cheques most people in it ", wrote Bennet to 
Ormonde, " is the favorable mention of Roman Catholiques." (Carte 
MSS,, 221, f. 15, Dec. 30, 1662.) In January a Puritan minister was 
arrested for preaching against the Declaration. (Arch. Aif. Etr., Angle- 
terre, 79, f. 37, Jan. 22, 1663, N. S., Comenge to Louis XIV.) The King 
attempted to conciliate the Presbyterians by giving audience to some of 
their leading ministers, but won no satisfaction from them. (Bate, 38.) 
Gilbert Sheldon, archbishop of Canterbury, did not hesitate to inform 
Charles that by the Declaration " you labour to set up that most damnable 
and heretical Doctrine of the Church of Rome, whore of Babylon ". 
(Ibid.) 

54 Thus Bennet wrote Ormonde to send over from Ireland Henry 
Coventry and Sir Winston Churchill in time for the meeting of Parlia- 
ment. (Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 232, Jan. 13, 1662/3.) Bristol 
introduced Sir Richard Temple to the King as a man who could induce the 
Commons to refrain from contesting the Declaration. (Carte MSS,, 32, 
f- 597, June 20, 1663, O'Neill to Ormonde.) 

55 Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 259-260. 



66 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

with the Declaration; then they drew up an address 
wherein it was pointed out that the sovereign had not 
the right to invahdate a law to which he had signified 
his assent, and that the indulgence which he wished to 
exercise would establish schism by law, and destroy the 
public peace. Further, they demanded a proclamation 
banishing priests and Jesuits from the kingdom, and, 
pending the King's reply, introduced a bill against the 
growth of popery. Supply was delayed, and, it was 
clear, would continue to be delayed as long as the 
Declaration had lease of life. Charles saw that he must 
yield, and so, on the sixteenth of March, made answer 
to the address, that though he found what he had said 
not well understood, he would not continue the argu- 
ment.'^ In the Upper House a bill was introduced by 
Lord Robartes, and strongly upheld by Ashley, grant- 
ing to the King the power of dispensing for which he 
had asked. Hitherto the Chancellor had absented him- 
self from the House of Lords on the score of illness, 
anxious to avoid the dangers which either defense or 
condemnation of the Declaration presented. Now that 
it was safely out of the way, he took his place on the 
woolsack and, applauded by the Bishops, encouraged 
opposition to the bill brought in by Robartes until it 
failed of commitment.^^ 

A sense of personal injury greatly intensified Ben- 
net's chagrin over the failure of his policy. As in the 
affair of the Post Office, he had depended on Claren- 
don's support, but the Chancellor had sacrificed him, 
and, as it seemed to Bennet, had wrecked the King's 
business for that session out of sheer official jealousy. 

^ Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 260-263. 
" Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 583-592. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 67 

Clarendon, on his part, asserted that the folly of Ben- 
net in putting forward the Declaration had ruined the 
session : " he doth every day so weake and unskilf ull 
things as he will never have the reputation of a good 
minister, nor is in any degree able for that province." " 
The hostility of the two ministers was the talk of the 
Court/* The King, smarting from the humiliation of 
seeing his wishes disregarded in both Houses of Parlia- 
ment, found it hard to forgive Clarendon, and for a 
while showed his displeasure so frankly that many 
believed he would demand the seals.^" But Charles, 
angry as he was, knew better than any man his need of 
Clarendon, and was unwilling to deprive himself of his 
services at a time when Parliament was refractory. 
Late in May he brought together the Chancellor and the 
Secretary and, half by persuasion, half by authority, 
won them to a truce — the third since Bennet's return to 
England.'^ 

It proved to be the most enduring of the three, for 
both men were really alarmed over the unmanageable- 

''^ Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 244, April ii, 1663, Clarendon to 
Ormonde. 

^^ O'Neill wrote to Ormonde: " These two neither in their owne defence 
nor odium surlye can not agree. How much this disunion hurts the King 
I need not tell you." (Carte MSS., 214, f. 471, April 18, 1663.) 

^'^ " It seems the present favourites now are my Lord Bristoll, Duke of 
Buckingham, Sir H. Bennet, my Lord Ashley, and Sir Charles Berkeley; 
who, among them, have cast my Lord Chancellor upon his back past ever 
getting up again; there being now little for him to do, and he waits at 
Court attending to speak to the King as others do." (Pepys, Diary, 
May 15, 1663.) 

6^ Both Clarendon and Bennet expressed the hope to Ormonde that the 
reconciliation would endure. (Carte MSS., 47, f. 56; ibid., 221, f. 48.) 
The French ambassador wrote to his master on June 11/21: "Monsieur 
le Chancelier et le Chevalier Benest sont apparemment dans la meilleure 
Intelligence du monde par le soin qu'en a pris le Roy qui demeure 
depositaire des paroles qu'ils se sont donnes I'un a I'autre." (Arch. Aff. 
Etr., Angleterre, 79, f. 226.) 



68 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

ness of Parliament, and neither felt that he had come off 
wholly unscathed. Bennet set aside his policy of tolera- 
tion, and never again actively pursued it, though twice 
thereafter, once in the House of Commons and once in 
the Committee of Foreign Affairs, he voted in favor 
of measures for the relief of Dissenters."^ As earnest 
of his good faith towards Clarendon, Bennet forsook 
the party of the Earl of Bristol, who complained loudly 
of this abandonment in which he was too vain to read 
a warning.^ He swore that if the King did not admit 
Ashley and Robartes to the committee of the Council 
formed for the deliberation of affairs requiring secrecy, 
he would force the committee to disband.^* Charles was 
worn out by his effrontery, and, as it happened, Bris- 
tol's friend and patroness, Lady Castlemaine, was also 
in disfavor for having quarreled with Mistress Stewart. 
A plot authorized by the King but originating, perhaps, 
with Clarendon, was devised to retire the Earl from 
politics by drawing upon him the anger of the House of 
Commons. Bristol showed unexpected dexterity in 
avoiding this snare, but promptly fell into one of his 
own making by an ill-considered and unsupported at- 
tempt to impeach Clarendon. In the House of Com- 
mons he might have succeeded, but in the Lords he was 
certain to fail. When the session came to an end the 

'2 When Arlington's impeachment was being debated in the Commons, 
Sir Gilbert Gerrard asserted that at the time of the Conventicle Act, 1664, 
the Secretary voted for a proviso allowing the dispensing power to the 
King, (Grey, Debates, II, 271.) For his attitude in regard to the 
second Declaration of Indulgence, see pp. 184-185 of this biography.) 

63 " Le Chancelier et le Chevalier Benet sont unis sans que le comte 
de Bristol y soit compris, qui se plaint du precede du Chevalier Benet^qui 
I'a abandonne de la plus mauvaise grace du monde." (Arch. Aff. Etr., 
Angleterre, 79, f. 231, June 25, 1663, N. S., Comenge to Louis XIV.) 

^ Ibid., 79, ff. 234-237, June 25, 1663, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV. 



SECRETARY OF STATE 69 

Earl prudently disappeared ; a proclamation of banish- 
ment was hurled after him, and for four years the stage 
of English politics knew him not. 

Bennet had stigmatized the rash attack on Clarendon 
as " madness ", and expressed a public-spirited regret 
that such things could be.^' So inscrutable was his 
behavior that not even his friend O'Neill was certain 
whether it covered loyalty to the Chancellor or to Bris- 
tol.^* Probably he considered the situation too delicate 
for a discreet man to jump at conclusions, and so 
awaited the event before committing himself to either 
party. 

«= Carte MSS., 32, f. 708, July 11, 1663, O'Neill to Ormonde. 

66 " Ungratfull Mountague, Master of the Horse, is deep in this Caball 
against the Chancellor of England. How far Sir Henry Bennet is in their 
designe I can not learne, but I doubt more then hee should, for hee and 
Mountague are very great frinds." (Ibid., 33, f. 120, Sept. 6, 1663, the 
same to the same.) 



CHAPTER V. 

The Dutch War. 

Notwithstanding his reconciHation with the Lord 
Chancellor, and the care with which both ministers 
preserved the appearances of it, Bennet advanced but 
slowly to the mastery of his own department of foreign 
affairs. Nicholas and Morice had done little more in 
their office than record Clarendon's decisions. The 
Committee of Foreign Affairs, which included, besides 
the Chancellor and the two secretaries, the Duke of 
York, Southampton, and Albemarle, had been organized 
by Clarendon and had hitherto reflected his opinions in 
default of any of its own. From this supremacy he did 
not propose to abdicate in favor of a secretary whose 
sole experience was that vagrant mission to Spain. 
When Richard Bellings, whom the Chancellor had sent 
to Rome to solicit a Cardinal's hat for Lord Aubigny, 
wrote to Bennet in reference to that affair. Clarendon 
declared angrily that Bellings did not deserve to be 
trusted, forgetting that Italy was in Bennet's province, 
and that he had every right to know what the King's 
envoy did there.^ The Count de Comenge did not ven- 
ture to transact business with the Secretary for fear of 
exciting Clarendon's jealousy, until he had express 
direction from Charles to do so ; ' and he suspected that 

1 Arch. Aff. ]&tr., Angleterre, ^^, f. 320, Dec. 14, 1662, N. S., Batailler 
to [Lionne ?]. 

^Ihid., 79, f. 31, Jan. 15, 1663, N. S., Comenge to Louis XIV. 

70 



THE DUTCH WAR 71 

the reason the negotiation of a commercial treaty, begun 
in England, was suddenly transferred to France for 
completion, and Sir Richard Fanshaw was sent to 
Spain as ambassador, was because the Chancellor saw 
that in any negotiation carried on in England the Sec- 
retary claimed too prominent a part.^ 

Courtiers, no less than foreign ministers, felt the 
delicacy of the situation when they tried to conciliate 
the King's favorite without provoking the displeasure 
of the King's most powerful minister. The Earl of 
Sandwich, finding it difficult to keep his footing in the 
clash of faction at Court, approached the Secretary, 
says Pepys, with the gift of " a gold cup of 100 1. which 
he refuses, with a compliment; but my Lord would 
have been glad he had taken it, that he might have had 
some obligations upon him, which he thinks possible 
the other may refuse to prevent it ; not that he hath any 
reason to doubt his kindness "/ But Sandwich, in pur- 
suit of the Secretary's kindness, and flattering himself 
that he had won it, soon discovered, " That my Lord 
Chancellor do from hence begin to be cold to him ", 
seeing him " so great " with Bennet." 

It could have been no pleasure to Clarendon to note 
that Bennet's facility with languages brought him into 
more frequent and informal intercourse with the repre- 
sentatives of other courts than the Chancellor could 

3 " Je vous ay mande plusieurs fois, que le Milord Holis est tout a fait 
devoue a Monsieur le Chancelier Heyden [sic'i qui se servira de toute 
sorte de voyes et de moyens pour luy faire tomber les affaires entre les 
mains afin d'en estre absolument le maistre, et d'en ravir la cognoissance 
et le merite au reste du conseil. II prend les mesmes mesures avec le 
Sieur Fanchos nomme pour Ambassadeur d'Espagne, au crevecoeur du 
Chevalier Benet qui voudroit bien y avoir part." (.Ibid., 80, f. 130, 
Nov. 19, 1663, N. S., the same to Lionne.) 

* Pepys, Diary, April 29, 1663. 

'^ Ibid., July 15, 1664; Oct. 25, 1665. 



72 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

enjoy who spoke no tongue but his own. Bennet was 
a good Latinist; he could speak French and Spanish 
with ease; he could, on emergency, draw upon a small 
stock of Italian. He was far more accessible than Clar- 
endon both to business and pleasure, for the Chancellor 
was constantly housed in the miserable company of the 
gout.' 

The King's plan, devised for the sake of a quiet life, 
was to leave the transaction of foreign affairs to Ben- 
net under the supervision of the Chancellor. It re- 
sulted in each man showing a certain hollow deference 
for the opinion of the other in public, while exerting to 
the utmost his influence over the King in private. In 
Council and in the Committee of Foreign Affairs, 
Clarendon was wont to talk a great deal in his stately, 
wordy fashion. Bennet sometimes dared an almost 
imperceptible sneer at the Chancellor's " eloquence ".^ 
He himself spoke very seldom on such official occasions, 
rather from caution than from inability to express 
himself. " His talent ", observes Clarendon, " was in 
private, where he frequently procured, very inconveni- 
ently, changes and alterations from public determina- 
tions." ^ It was one of Clarendon's grievances that he 

® Comenge, who was three months in England before he saw the 
Chancellor on his feet, observed that, " par I'lndisposition dudit Chan- 
celier, qui ne luy permet pas un accez assez facile a tous ceux qui ont des af- 
faires a luy, elles pourroient bien d'elles mesmes tomber entre les mains du 
Chevalier Benet qui est accostable et qui sans doute ne les reftiseroit pas." 
(Arch. Afif. Etr., Angleterre, 79, f. 31, Jan. 15, 1663, N. S., Comenge to 
Louis XIV.) 

' " . . . nous connumes bien par ce qu'il nous avoit dit au commence- 
ment de son discours, et par la maniere dont il nous avoit parle de I'elo- 
quence de Monsieur le Chancelier, qu'il n'est pas en trop bonne intelli- 
gence avec lui." (Egerton MSS., 812, f. 136, May 24, 1665, N. S., French 
ambassadors to Louis XIV.) 

s Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 740. 



THE DUTCH WAR 73 

could not know how often or how familiarly Bennet 
talked with the King. When the new Secretary had 
taken over Nicholas's lodgings at Whitehall, a door had 
been opened from his office onto a little staircase which 
ascended to the royal apartments above/ and this, no 
doubt, facilitated the vexing " changes and alterations ". 
In recompense. Clarendon, out of his larger experience, 
was able to find many flaws in the papers drawn by the 
younger man. " I use all freedom and opennesse ", 
wrote the Chancellor to Ormonde, " and when any 
thinge is shewed to me of dispatch as frequently it is, 
I do excepte and advize as I see cause, and I thinke it 
is well taken, for without all doubte all directions and 
orders of importance should be carefully worded and 
with greate cleerenesse ; busynesse is a new language 
that men are not suddaynely acquainted with." " 

Aside from the personal jealousy, a wide divergence 
in views upon foreign affairs further estranged the 
ministers. Clarendon's ambition had been to form a 
close alliance with France, and to this end — although 
other considerations contributed — he had advised the 
alliance with Portugal, which had antagonized Spain ; 
and the sale of Dunkirk, which neither Spaniards nor 
Dutch desired to see in the hands of Louis XIV. Then 
he had the mortification of seeing France conclude a 
defensive league with England's great commercial rival, 
the Dutch. Charles, who might at the Restoration have 
had a good treaty with the Dutch, was obliged to accept 
one that gave him no advantage and left the points in 
dispute open to further wrangling. 

» Carte MSS., 32, f. 67, Oct. 11, 1662, O'Neill to Ormonde. 
^'^ Ibid., 47, f. 56, June 19, 1663, Clarendon to Ormonde. 



74 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Bennet had no sympathy with the Chancellor's in- 
clination for France. French despatches, which ever 
since his return to England had referred to him as a 
" Spaniard ", were thus far right, that he could see 
greater advantages accruing from a well-paid protection 
of the weak, than from building up the power of the 
strong. He was willing to extend the protection of 
England to Spain against the future aggressions of 
France, but he set the price high. Fanshaw was in- 
structed to demand freedom of trade in the West Indies 
for English ships, and an assiento which would insure 
to the Royal African Company a monopoly of the 
profitable slave trade to the Spanish colonies." The 
promotion of commerce was, indeed, the keynote of the 
new Secretary's foreign policy. Though his interest in 
the national development along this line received some 
impetus from the fact that he was a shareholder in the 
Royal African Company, and, like many of the great 
men at Court, thought it a fair way to fortune, it would 
be unjust to attribute his concern for the expansion of 
trade to self-seeking purely. Commerce was not merely 
the occupation of a large and influential number of Eng- 
lishmen ; it was the national greatness and the national 
jealousy; it symbolized in some fashion that mighty 
boast of the dominion of the seas. To be outstripped 
commercially was intolerable to English pride as well 
as to English pockets, and in this point if in few others 
the Secretary shared the feeling of his countrymen. 

It was impossible, however, to expect Spain to throw 
open her closely-guarded empire while England was 
giving military assistance to the Portuguese rebels ; and 

'"■Arlington's Letters, II, 1-12, Jan. 14, 1663/4, Instructions to Sir 
Richard Fanshaw. 



THE DUTCH WAR 75 

it was equally impossible for Charles to renounce the 
treaty by which he had promised that assistance. Bennet 
saw that to clear the way for his policy, a peace or 
truce must be established between Spain and Portugal. 
Even before he became Secretary of State he was mak- 
ing inquiry of his friends in the Spanish Court as to 
how the mediation of England would be received."^ But 
Spain, fearful of arousing the anger of France, shut 
her eyes to the future and rebuffed the English advances 
by insisting on the abandonment of Portugal and the 
restitution of Tangier and Jamaica before an alliance 
could be considered." 

Bennet had also to contend with the inclination of his 
master in favor of France. Although Charles felt him- 
self much injured by the treaty which Louis had made 
with the Dutch, he could not easily bring himself to 
repay his good brother in kind. When D'Estrades was 
recalled in the autumn of 1662, he carried back to 
France such glowing accounts of Charles's ardor for 
an alHance that Louis hastily sent over the Count de 
Comenge in December, with instructions to conclude a 
treaty.'' 

But Comenge found a new hand at the helm. His 
importunities were evaded on various pretexts: that 
negotiation could not begin until he had made his 

" " Since my last I received from my old friende Don Christoval in 
answer to one of mine which with leave I wrote to him asking whither 
they weare in that court in a temper of entring into a Peace or truce with 
Portugal and by the mediation of Englande which he verry discreetely 
saies is a matter to delicat for him to propose. What his meaning is by it 
time only can tell us." (Carte MSS., 221, f. 9, Sept. 9, 1662, Bennet to 
Ormonde.) 

13 Project of a league between Spain and England, given to Sir Richard 
Fanshaw by the Duke of Medina de las Torres, March 10/20, 1664/5. 
(Clarendon MSS., 83, f. 74-) 

1^ Jusserand, A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles the Second, 

125- 



76 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

formal entry;" that a commercial treaty must precede 
a political alliance ;" that the King of England's dignity 
demanded that the French ambassador be the first to 
open proposals." Clarendon finally sent the scarcely 
begun commercial treaty to France with Lord Holies, 
who went thither as ambassador in November, 1663. 
Holies was a stiff-necked Presbyterian, and he involved 
himself in a contest for precedence in the French Court, 
from which he was with difficulty extricated. Then he 
took up the commercial treaty. But there was no possi- 
bility of agreement between Bennet's insistence that 
France should allow English traders the privileges 
granted by treaty to the Dutch, and Colbert's contention 
that in such case England should make the same or 
equivalent concessions to French merchants."^^ The 
commercial treaty was still being languidly argued 
when war broke out between England and the Dutch. 

This quarrel was a result of the commercial rivalry 
which had long marked the relations of the two great 
sea-powers. The boggled treaty signed the month be- 
fore Bennet became Secretary had done nothing to 
relieve the situation, and popular prejudice in England 

16 D'Estrades, Lettres, II, 183, April 13, 1663, N. S., Louis XIV to 
D'Estrades. 

18 Commissioners were appointed to negotiate a treaty of commerce with 
Comenge late in May, but Louis XIV had no faith in their sincerity 
towards France. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 78, f. 194, July 19, 1663, 
N. S., Louis XIV to Comenge.) 

" Ihid., 79, f, 200, May 24, 1663, N. S., Comenge to Louis XIV. 

1* " . . . they say ", wrote Holies on this point, " when I urged they 
had granted it to Cromwell, that it never was before in any Treaty, they 
might doe it then, but since having made a stricter union with the Dutch, 
and receiving greater priviledges from them then from any other, they had 
granted them the like, therfore others could not expect the same that would 
not grant them, which wee would not, instancing that in Holland the 
French were used as Natives ..." (State Papers, France, 119, f. 192, 
Dec. 3/13, 1664, Holies to Bennet.) 



THE DUTCH WAR 77 

had done much to embitter it. Bennet's natural prefer- 
ence was always for the security of peace, but he was 
ambitious to establish England's commercial supremacy, 
and believed, in common with most Englishmen, that 
the Dutch resistance — if they resisted at all — would be 
short and spiritless." What influenced him most, per- 
haps, was the fact that the party with which he had 
aUied himself in the House of Commons was enthusi- 
astic for the war. 

Bennet had never aspired to leadership in the House. 
As in Council, he never spoke — except, as Clarendon 
suggests, " in his ear who sat next him to the dis- 
advantage of some who had spoken ".""^ He was re- 
signed to the existence of Parliament, but in spirit he 
was never a part of it. When the Commons showed a 
reluctance to grant supply, " It is a hard case ", said 
the Secretary of State philosophically, "but Parla- 
ments hardly give money soe wee must have patience 
and shuffle againe." ^ And after a prorogation he once 
confessed: '' Altho there be safety (as Solomon says) 
in a multitude of Counsellors, yet we cannot but think 
our selves at ease when we are fairly rid of them." ^ 

19 " As for their hopes of wearing us out without fighting wee doubt not 
also to bee hard for them that way," (Additional MSS., 22920, f. 78, Feb. 
6, 1664/5, Bennet to Downing.) The English ministers were probably 
much influenced by Sir George Downing, Charles's ambassador at the 
Hague, who insisted that the Dutch would yield rather than come to a 
war. (See Downing's letters to Bennet, State Papers, Holland, 171, 
f. 25, July 25, 1664; ihid., f. 125, Aug. 26, 1664.) The French King and 
his ministers thought that neither Dutch nor English expected the other 
to hazard a war. (Egerton MSS., 812, f. 2 et seq., April 4, 1665, N. S., 
Memoire du Roi, Pour servir d'instruction a Monsieur le Due de Ver- 
neuil et aux Sieurs Comte de Comenge et De Courtin, Ambassadeurs 
extraordinaires de sa Majeste en Angleterre. See also, Japikse, Ver- 
wikkelingen, pp. 340-342.) 

20 Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 413. 

21 Carte MSS., 221, f. 52, June 6, 1663, Bennet to Ormonde. 
^^Miscellanea Aulica, 357, May 14, 1664, Bennet to Ormonde. 



78 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

How to humor the House of Commons was a problem 
over which Bennet spent a Hf etime of study. Clarendon, 
as we have seen, had organized a committee of members 
on whom he could rely to influence the House in the 
direction recommended by him. The result was not 
wholly satisfactory to the King, who was disappointed 
in the modest income allowed him, and in the several 
attempts he had made to fulfil the Declaration of Breda 
by a relaxation of the laws against nonconformity. 
This, Bennet explained to his master, was because the 
House was not properly acquainted with the royal 
wishes. Ignoring the Chancellor's whips, he undertook 
to form a party in the House which should serve the 
King — men who, as Clarendon said, " spake confidently 
and often ", and were " busy and pragmatical ''^^ In 
this Bennet was abetted by his old friend William Cov- 
entry, one of the leaders of the House, and, as secre- 
tary to the Lord High Admiral, the duke of York, 
virtual administrator of the navy. Though he served 
the Duke, he was one of the most inveterate anti- 
Clarendonians in the Commons. 

Bennet's particular confidant was not Coventry but 
the member for Totnes, Thomas Clifford, little known 
when Parliament assembled in 1661, but soon attracting 
a considerable following by the strength of his con- 
victions and the eloquence with which he pressed them 
on the attention of the House. Bishop Burnet tells that 
at his first coming to London, Clifford sought the 
patronage of Clarendon, but was repulsed, and then 
struck in with the Chancellor's opponents.^ However 
that may be, certainly no love was lost between the first 
minister and the hot-tempered gentleman from Devon. 

2^ Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 404-405. 
2^ Burnet, Own Time, I, 402. 



THE DUTCH WAR 79 

It was therefore with much displeasure that Clarendon 
heard and obeyed the King's command to call Bennet, 
Coventry, and Clifford henceforth to the committee for 
parliamentary management. Their advent was any- 
thing but welcome to the Chancellor's junto."'' 

It was the party led by Coventry and Clifford that 
embraced the Dutch War most ardently. They were 
for the most part young inexperienced men, eager for 
great doings and jealous of the maritime power of the 
Dutch. Clarendon considered the matter more seri- 
ously. He and Southampton alone realized the heavy 
expense that a war, even if successful, would entail on 
the already necessitous Crown, and they had reason to 
believe that if the war were undertaken and failed, the 
blame would be visited upon them as the most respon- 
sible members of the government. They were of a very 
small minority. In the House of Lords Ashley made 
stirring speeches in favor of the war. At Lady Castle- 
maine's suppers, where politics as well as pleasure found 
place in the evening's diversions, the war spirit reigned 
unchallenged. Ashley and Bennet were always frater- 
nally present; so were the Duke of Buckingham and 
Charles Berkeley, now Lord Fitzharding, both of whom 
aspired to military renown ; so was another advocate of 
the war, the Earl of Lauderdale, a man who in appear- 
ance was stupid and uncouth, but under his repulsive 
exterior concealed great ability and greater cunning. 
He was Secretary of State for Scotland, and had re- 
cently obtained the dismissal of the royal Commissioner, 
the Earl of Middleton, in favor of a creature of his 
own. Quite openly he boasted that he had ruined one 

25 Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 406-413. 



8o THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

of the mainstays of the Chancellor/^ The fastidious 
Sir Henry Bennet, who had looked somewhat coldly on 
the coarse Scotsman at the outset of their acquaintance, 
had been dazzled by Lauderdale's brilliant assertion of 
the royal authority in Scotland, and hastened to make 
friends with him.^^ 

The King had at first no great liking for the war, 
but the enthusiasm of the Court, particularly of that 
part of it whose society he most affected, gradually pre- 
vailed with him in spite of opposition from Clarendon 
and Southampton. But the decision lay not with the 
King, nor with the Chancellor, but with Parliament, 
When in November, 1664, the Commons voted the sup- 
ply — enormous for that time — of two and a half million 
pounds for the equipment of the fleet, the government 
stood committed to the war.^^ 

The handsome gift of Parliament seemed so ample 
for the expenses of the fleet, that the King determined 
to apply prize money, of which it was expected there 
would be a great deal, to other needs of the Crown 

28 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 80, £. 74, Aug. 20, 1663, N. S., Comenge 
to Louis XIV. 

27 " My lord Lauderdaile came last night hither. The great things that 
are done in Scotland in the vindication of his Majesties Authority in all 
points have made him very wellcome to those that cared not much for him 
before. I confesse ingeniously for my owne part hee hath cozened me and 
I am glad to bee soe to his Majesties advantage." (Carte MSS., 46, f. 
108, Nov. 3, 1663, Bennet to Ormonde.) 

28 This sum had been proposed by Clarendon in the conclave for the 
preparation of business for Parliament. The Chancellor hoped, perhaps, 
that the Houses could be frightened out of their fondness for the war by 
large figures. Bennet and Coventry, confident that the war would be 
brief and successful, favored asking only a small supply, enough to set 
out the fleet and maintain it through the summer; then when some 
advantage gained should afford opportunity, a larger sum might easily 
be obtained — say at Michaelmas. The Chancellor and the Treasurer 
wisely rejected this hand-to-mouth policy, and it was finally decided to 
propose the amount first suggested. (Clarendon, Continuation of Life, 
par. 5 3 4-5 49-) 



THE DUTCH WAR 8i 

which he felt more poignantly. Therefore in December, 
1664, he appointed a large Commission of Prizes — all 
the great nobles pleading for a place on it — with Ashley 
as treasurer and Bennet as comptroller.^* By the terms 
of their patent, the moneys due the Crown from the 
sale of prizes were not to be turned into the Exchequer, 
but should remain a fund apart from which sums 
should be disbursed only on the King's order.^" Lord 
Ashley's services were to be requited with a salary of 
£1500 a year; Bennet was to receive iiooo, and the 
other members £500 apiece.^^ Naturally this arrange- 
ment contributed to the warmth with which Bennet and 
his fellow-commissioners espoused the war. 

The course that France would take became now a 
question of the highest importance to both prospective 
belligerents. Louis was bound by treaty to aid the 
Dutch in a defensive war, but as each party claimed that 
the other was the aggressor, it was an engagement not 
impossible to evade. Bennet set aside the Spanish 
policy with which he had made no headway, and turned 
to court the power he had hitherto repulsed. He per- 
suaded the King to send Lord Fitzharding, as if on a 
private errand, to Paris, to sound the intentions of 
Louis XIV.^ Fitzharding was instructed to ask first 
the completion of the commercial treaty on the terms 
demanded by England; this settled, Charles would be 
prepared to enter at once into " straiter articles of de- 
fense ".^ Diplomatically vague as this suggestion was, 

29 Cal. St. P., Dom., 1664-1665, p. 122. 

"* Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 581. 

^ So according to the Dutch ambassador's report to the States General. 
(State Papers, Holland, 174, f, 192, Feb. 13, 1665, N. S.) 

32 Clarendon's hatred of Fitzharding precludes the idea that he had any 
share in sending him. 

^ State Papers, France, 119, f. 151, Nov. 1664. Draft of Fitzharding's 
instructions, in Bennet's hand. 



82 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

it could be expanded into an offer to abandon Spain in 
any contest between that crown and France for the 
Spanish Netherlands, in return for the renunciation of 
the Dutch league by Louis. But much as Louis desired 
the alliance of England, his intentions in regard to 
Flanders demanded still more imperatively that he keep 
the Dutch bound to him by a sufficient observance of his 
treaty. Though he was not sorry to see the two great 
commercial powers on ill terms, he wished to avert a 
war in which he must be involved to the postponement 
of his own designs. So, without giving Fitzharding 
more than a complimentary answer,^* he sent after him 
into England his Celehre Amhassade, by which he 
joined to his ordinary ambassador, the Count de Co- 
menge, two others, the Duke de Verneuil, whose func- 
tion was to add lustre to the embassy, and Pierre 
Courtin, master of requests and an able diplomat. The 
purpose of the Celebre Amhassade was to offer the 
mediation of France to Charles II. 

Almost from the moment of their landing the ambas- 
sadors realized that the war could not be averted. 
" Never ", Comenge had written, " has such joy reigned 
in England, for — aside from the celebration of Christ- 

3* " I hoope ", wrote Fitzharding to Bennet, " you will have the satis- 
faction to see at my returne that my journey will not alltogather have 
bin unprofitable to his Majestys service and that if all be not as you 
desire, at least you will know how it is." (State Papers, France, f. 170, 
Nov. 20, 1664.) On Nov. 28 Bennet wrote to Holies as if he thought that 
there was at least a possibility of winning France: "... we cannot but 
think, that with the Ships we have at Sea, and the Money we shall quickly 
have in our Purses, our friendship ought to be as acceptable to them as our 
Enemies'." ^Arlington's Letters, II, 61-62.) Lord Holies was even more 
certain that an open breach with France was not to be feared : " I am confi- 
dent they will not openly engage for the Dutch, and any other assistance a 
Treaty will not prevent, no more then that with Spaine keepes them from 
assisting Portugall, and the more wee appeare apprehensive of it, to make 
it a busines, the worse it will be I thinck." (State Papers, France, 119, 
f. 192, Dec. 3, 1664.) 



THE DUTCH WAR 83 

mas, which is to them our carnival-time — they talk of 
nothing but triumphs and victories, with so much con- 
fidence that it is a crime to be dubious about it and to 
fear reverses of fortune." ^' 

Nevertheless, to gain time for their master, the 
Frenchmen began their talk of peace. They met with 
angry opposition from the Commissioners of Prizes, 
and Bennet, to whom as Secretary of State the ambas- 
sadors were referred, took the same high tone. He de- 
fended warmly the drastic rules in regard to neutral 
commerce which had been adopted by the commission 
in order to prevent French ships from carrying for the 
Dutch during the war.^^ He declared that it was useless 
to think of peace until the Dutch had lost a battle and 
were thereby made more tractable." When Comenge 

3" Arch. Aff. ftr., Angleterre, 84, f. 86, Dec. 29, 1664, N. S., Comenge 
to Lionne. 

3«Egerton MSS., 812, f. 127, May 21, 1665, N. S., the French ambas- 
sadors to Louis XIV. The treatment which neutrals might expect from 
belligerents depended in this day not upon any generally accepted ruling, 
but on the treaties in force at the moment between the parties concerned. 
The rule that free ships make free goods had been accepted mutually by 
the French and Dutch in 1650, but no such agreement existed between 
France and England. Thus the Commissioners of Prizes were free to 
adopt such rules as seemed prudent to them in dealing with French com- 
merce, and they chose to be very severe in the spring of 1665. Later, 
however, the King's compliance for France, and, perhaps, the realization 
of the ministers that a little provocation would draw Louis XIV into the 
war, made them more lenient in practice though the theory of robe 
d'enneiny confisque celle d'amy was not abandoned. For a brief account 
of the development of neutral rights in this respect, see Woolsey, Intro- 
duction to the Study of International Law^ 316-320. In the Record Office 
are two protesting memorials from the French ambassadors (State Papers, 
France, 120, f. 98, Nov. 24, 1664, N. S., and f. 131, April 22, 1665, N. S.); 
also an answer from the Commissioners of Prizes (ibid., 118, f. 130). 
Clarendon, who disliked the Commissioners personally, and the Commis- 
sion officially, says that the rules were very unjust. (Continuation of 
Life, par. 572-574.) Writing on May 21, 1665, N. S., the French ambas- 
sadors say: " . . . la pluspart des marchandises saisies aiant este 
reclamees par les marchans francois il les a fallu rendre." (Egerton 
MSS., 812, f. 124.) 

"Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 83, f. 192, Jan. 29, 1665, N. S., Comenge 
to Louis XIV. 



84 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

desired to know on what conditions the King would 
lay down his arms, the Secretary took away the am- 
bassador's breath by the statement — though advancing 
it as his personal opinion — that his master could not be 
secure in any peace with the States General which did 
not deliver into his hands certain Dutch towns in guar- 
antee for the fulfilment of the treaty, as England had 
held Brill in the time of Elizabeth.*^ Bennet at first 
opposed even the acceptance of Louis's mediation, lest 
the prospect of peace divert possible allies, but on this 
point he was overruled by the King/^ Then, changing 
front, he encouraged the ambassadors to linger in Eng- 
land throughout the year 1665 and to hope that some 
agreement might be reached. But this was mere 
sparring for time. England had found but one ally on 
the Continent, the Bishop of Miinster, who in this sum- 
mer attacked the United Provinces by land. He was 
able to hold his own well against the paltry land forces 
of the States General, but if Louis should recall his 
ambassadors from England and send French troops to 
the assistance of the Dutch, the Bishop would most cer- 
tainly be crushed. " We do what we can ", Bennet 
wrote to William Temple, then agent of Charles II with 
the Bishop of Miinster, " to divert France from molest- 
ing the Bishop : and accordingly have lately humour'd 
them in offering something towards a Treaty with 

38 Arch. Aff. £tr., Angleterre, 83, f. 192, Jan. 29, 1665, N. S., Comenge 
to Louis XIV. 

39 To the French ambassadors the Secretary said that the acceptance of 
the mediation would anger the Londoners, who were bent on war, and 
would incite them to refuse a loan of money to the King. (Egerton MSS., 
812, f. 54, April 27, 1665, N. S., the French ambassadors to Louis XIV.) 
But to Fanshaw Bennet expressed the fear that the delays of Spain in 
allying with England were " improved by a jealousie, that we would make 
an end of the Dutch War at the recommendation of France, and that the 
conclusion of it would be consequently a stricter union with that 
Crown ". {Arlington's Letters, II, 96, Nov. 4, 1665.) 



THE DUTCH WAR 85 

Holland; which wee hear takes reasonably well with 
them ; notwithstanding which we cannot be confident of 
them in the end, such is their Partiality to Holland: 
But if at the worst, it will gain the Bishop some time, 
we have a great part of our end/' *" 

The indifference which the Secretary displayed to the 
tentatives of peace offered by the Celehre Ambassade, 
sprang from a double conviction : first, that Spain was 
now in good faith ready to embrace the English alli- 
ance; second, that however much bluster the French 
ambassadors might expend for the edification of the 
Dutch, Louis XIV would either keep clear of the war 
altogether, or, under color of assisting his ally, would 
carry out the long-planned occupation of Flanders."^ 

^'^ Ibid., I, 18, Aug. 24, 1665. With the same purpose in view, the Sec- 
retary agreed to a proposal from Downing, who still lingered on at the 
Hague, that he should begin secret negotiations with the States General for 
a peace which France should have no hand in: " If you can helpe to dis- 
tract them by making a fair advance on our side, with whom they certainly 
had much rather treate, [i. e., than through France] and, effectively, wee 
would not be sorry to doe it, so wee saw them fairly disposed to aggree 
with us." (State Papers, Holland, 177, f. 54, July 14, 1665, copy in 
Williamson's hand.) It is evident from the careless way in which the 
Secretary stated the English conditions, that he had no intention of nego- 
tiating seriously at this time : " It is not possible to set down the precise 
termes upon which the King would be willing to have a peace, because they 
must never have the advantage to say any offer hath bin made by the King, 
but if from thence a reasonable overture be made to pay in some conve- 
nient time the charges we have been of, to give good conditions in the 
East Indys by which we may equali share that trade; reparation for what 
is taken at Guiny, and if such propositions were ushered in by somt 
friendli actions towards the Prince of Orange, it is very probable that a 
treaty might be entred into which in a short time might produce a peace." 
(Additional MSS., 22920, f. 152, July 21, 1665, Arlington to Downing.) 
Downing was not able to accomplish anything on the basis of these 
instructions during the two months following that he remained at the 
Hague. 

^ " In the meantime, the King of France is making vast preparations 
against the spring for forces superior to any he ever had, which he 
colours only with the appearance of a breach with us, who are not like to 
give him occasion of making use of them ... in conclusion, it is plain 
they are designed against the house of Austria and yet not to omit any 
occasion of giving us trouble here at home if they can do it." (^Memoirs 



86 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The same breeze that had wafted the Celehre Am- 
bassade across the Channel, had brought also the Count 
de Molina, ambassador from Spain. Neither was de- 
lighted to note the presence of the other, nor, as the 
Secretary remarked, " do the compliments run very 
currantly betwixt them "f" While Bennet blandly 
turned aside the French proposals for peace, he used all 
his address to draw Spain into alliance with England. 
The death of Philip IV in September, 1665, which gave 
the King of France opportunity to claim the Spanish 
Low Countries whenever it should suit his convenience, 
hastened the pace of the Count de Molina. After many 
conferences with Clarendon and the Secretary, he 
agreed to certain conditions as the basis of an offensive 
and defensive league : Charles II was to mediate a peace 
between Spain and Portugal, and if the Portuguese 
should persist in refusing reasonable terms, he would 
give them no further assistance against Spain. When 
this peace was made, Spain and England would con- 
clude a close alliance, " making our selves Friends to 
Friends and Enemies to Enemies of each other ".*^ It 
was probably understood on both sides that Spain was 
not to declare against the Dutch (on whom even more 
than on England she must eventually rely if Flanders 
were to be saved) , unless France should carry out the 
threat which her ambassadors had made familiar to the 

of the Family of Taafe, 73, Dec. 21, 1665, Arlington to the Earl of Car- 
lingford, English envoy at Vienna.) Even after France declared war, the 
Secretary was still half-inclined to believe that it was a feint to cover an 
attack upon Flanders: "Those who come out of France say confidently 
the design is not upon us, but Flanders; and from Madrid we hear that 
the French Ambassador, in his Masters name, hath laid claim to the Prov- 
inces of Brabant and Henault; a few days will unriddle this matter." 
{Miscellanea Aulica, 374, Jan. 30, 1665/6, Arlington to Ormonde.) 

'^Arlington's Letters, II, 78, May 4, 1665. To Sir Richard Fanshaw. 

*3 The terms of this agreement are reported by Arlington to Fanshaw. 
{Ibid., II, 9S-I0I, Nov. 4, 1665.) 



THE DUTCH WAR 87 

ears of the English ministers, of entering the war to 
assist the Dutch.*' The prospective success of this 
negotiation with MoHna, and the cheerful support 
which Parliament, meeting at Oxford in October, of- 
fered for the continuance of the war, decided the min- 
isters to refuse the last pacific proposals of the Celebre 
Ambassade, which then, with many warnings, took its 
departure for France/'' 

In the absorption of foreign affairs we must not omit 
to notice that at Oxford the Secretary took his seat for 
the first time in the House of Lords, an event of much 
personal satisfaction to him, for he was a great re- 
specter of titles. He hesitated long over the choice of 
a name. Lord Bennet was not acceptable ; perhaps it 
was not sufficiently sonorous, or, more probably, it had 
an unpleasing association with Bennet's erring grand- 
father. He revolved Colnbrook, Lymington, and 
Paddington uncertainly in his mind,^ then fixed upon 
Baron Cheney, a title which had been honorably borne 
by a family of that name in the reign of Elizabeth, to 
which the Crofts were remotely related.*^ But the 

■** The Count de Molina assui-ed the Dutch ambassador in London that 
Spain was very well disposed towards the States General and would be 
very willing to undertake the work of mediation, if they so desired. 
(State Papers, Holland, 176, f. 160, June 15, 1665, N. S., English trans- 
lation of a letter from Van Gogh, Dutch ambassador, to the States Gen- 
eral; ibid., f, 166, June 26, 1665, N. S., the same to the same.) A mem- 
ber of the Spanish Council, Don Blasco de Loyola, told the Archbishop of 
Embrun: " Messieurs les HoUandais sont nos amis, nous ne voulons pas 
rompre avec eux: nous ne voulons que garder ce qui nous appartient." 
(Mignet, Negociations, I, 433.) 

*5 The refusal of the last offers towards peace made by the French 
ambassadors was communicated to them by Arlington on the seventh or 
eighth of November. (Jusserand, A French Ambassador at the Court of 
Charles the Second, 176.) This answer had been decided in the Committee 
of Foreign Affairs, all the ministers apparently concurring. (Clarendon, 
Continuation of Life, par. 707-713.) 

4« Cal. St. P., Doni., 1664-166^, p. 246. 

^■^ In the Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica (new series, III, 384) it 
is stated that Henry, Lord Cheney (d. 1587) married Jane, daughter of 



88 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

patent in this form was never sealed, there being 
Cheneys still extant, who, though not of the direct line, 
protested against the assumption by the Secretary of a 
title to which they themselves aspired.*' Bennet oblig- 
ingly withdrew from his pretension and at last adopted 
the name of the village where he had spent his child- 
hood, though the manor at Harlington was not his but 
his brother's. From the Secretary's personal indiffer- 
ence to the H., or because the Heralds' Office fell into a 
cockney error, Bennet was created Baron Arlington. 
If he did not prefer this form, he accepted it, at least, 
without demur, and ever afterwards so subscribed him- 
self. 

The winter of 1665 proved the turning-point of the 
war. Until then the balance of success had been in 
favor of England, and an advantageous conclusion 
seemed always within the grasp of the King whenever 
he should care to avail himself of it. The ministers, 
though not free from anxiety on the side of France, 
hoped for assistance from Spain, from Sweden, and 
from the Emperor and some of the German princes in 
case Louis XIV should make good his guaranty to the 
Dutch. Englishmen generally welcomed the prospect 
of a war with France, being jealous of her commercial 
aspirations as well as of her political arrogance. Many 
prominent men at Court shared this feeling : Albemarle 

Thomas, Lord Wentworth of Nettlested, and that Margaret, daughter of 
the same Lord Wentworth, married Sir John Crofts, Bennet's grandfather. 
This is corrected by the editor of the Little Saxham Parish Registers, 
(p. 169 et seq.), who says that Lady Cheney belonged to the Wentworths 
of Berkshire. Yet there was certainly some connection between the Crofts 
and the Cheneys, for in Bennet's patent for the title of Cheney it is 
clearly stated: " insignire nobili et antique nomine ac titulo Baronis de 
Cheney unde genus materno sanguine deducit ". (Egerton MSS. 2543, 
f. 142.) 

48 Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 604. 



THE DUTCH WAR 89 

was eager to crush the growing French navy out of 
existence; Ashley and Lauderdale thought longingly 
of the prizes that could be made at the expense of 
French trade/' 

Arlington, on the contrary, began to feel uneasy. His 
affection for the war had always been somewhat arti- 
ficially stimulated, and his post enabled him to forecast 
possibilities better than the other ministers. He was 
experiencing the difficulty of finding allies; he had 
noted that Spain made no sign when French troops 
crossed her territory without permission, to punish the 
Bishop of Miinster; the States General as yet showed 
no disposition to sue for peace. His state of mind was 
shrewdly guessed by Courtin. " Almost all the Eng- 
lish ", he reported, " would be as ardent for a war with 
France as they were for that with Holland. My Lord 
Arlington knows this disposition well and, according 
to our judgment, he who sees farther than the English 
who have not traveled, believes that the declaration of 
France in favor of the Dutch would be very injurious 
to his master, but ... at the same time that, as we be- 
lieve, he fears France will declare against England, we 
cannot avoid the suspicion that at the bottom of his 
heart he plans to assist Spain, and that if any one in- 
duces the King of England to come to an agreement 
with the States, either directly or by the interposition 
of the Count de Molina, in order to make a league 
against France in case the latter attempts something on 
the side of the Netherlands, it is he who will bring it to 
pass." " 

^8 The French ambassadors refer to Albemarle, Ashley, and Lauder, 
dale as particularly desirous of a war with France. Egerton MSS., 812, 
f. 173, June I, 1665, N. S., to Lionne. 

50 Ihid. 



90 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Courtin was right in believing that the Secretary 
would be glad to bring the Dutch War to an end before 
coming to blows with France/^ When the Celehre 
Ambassade was preparing to return to France, he wrote 
to Ormonde in evident dejection : " Wee are upon the 
point of breaking with France before wee are secure of 
Spaine or indeede of any other friende abroade what- 
ever face wee put upon it, which joind with the smale 
meanes wee have to drive on the warre makes us se- 
cretly wish for peace but wee see noe overtures made 
for attaining it and the professd seeking it would too 
much expose us both at home and abroade which is our 
present condition." '^ This view of the situation led him 
to send an agent, Gabriel Silvius, secretly to Holland in 
November, 1665, to encourage the Dutch in the direc- 
tion of peace.'^ 

The events of the year 1666 more than justified the 
Secretary's misgivings. Louis XIV declared war on 
England on January 6, and the effect on other powers 
was immediate. Denmark also declared against Eng- 

si " The best News we have out of Holland ", wrote Arlington to Or- 
monde at the end of the campaign of 1665, " is, that their vast expences 
and losses this year make the Generality call for Peace, and the Province 
of Overyssel has made a formal Proposition to the States General, which 
is likewise Printed, to send the Prince of Orange, as ambassadour, to the 
King to make Peace ; but it is likely when De Wit returns these things will 
be supprest." (Miscellanea Aulica, 366, Nov. i, 1665.) 

22 Carte MSS., 221, f. 98, Nov. 30, 1665. 

S3 Silvius was sent to Holland with a view to encouraging the partisans 
of the House of Orange in the desire they had already manifested for a 
peace with England. He had the enthusiastic support of Henri Fleury 
de Coulant, Lord of Buat, who endeavored to organize an opposition in 
the States General which should force De Witt to make peace. Buat's 
correspondence with Arlington was discovered by the Pensionary in 
August, and the conspirator was arrested and tried for treason. See 
Clarendon's account of this affair {Continuation of Life, par. 835-855), 
also Wicquefort's Histoire des Provinces-Unies, III, 255-265, and 
J. Hora Siccama's biography, " Sir Gabriel de Sylvius ", in the Revue 
d'Histoire Diplomatique, XIV, 598. 



THE DUTCH WAR 91 

land. Brandenburg and the Dukes of Brunswick and 
Liineburg joined the Dutch against the Bishop of 
Miinster, who, encompassed by enemies and seeing no 
assistance forthcoming from any quarter, was obHged 
to make peace in April, leaving England without a 
single ally. The Emperor waited to see what action 
Spain would take, and Spain, relieved that the French 
arms were not to be directed against her as she had 
feared, was enticed by the wiles of Louis's ambassador 
away from the treaty begun by the Count de Molina.^ 
Sweden, without the subsidies that England could not 
give, was unable to do more than offer her mediation. 
The intrigue that Silvius set on foot with the Orange 
party in Holland, to force the States into a peace apart 
from France, promised well for a time, but in August 
it was discovered and crushed by the Grand Pensionary 
of Holland, Jan de Witt, whose influence kept the States 
inflexible in the French alliance.'^ 

Arlington's diplomacy had failed in every quarter of 
Europe: he had been over-sanguine in his reliance on 
the House of Austria ; he had not realized the potency 
of the better-financed negotiations of France; he had 
underestimated the determination of the ruling faction 
in Holland, which, for fear of reaction in favor of the 
Prince of Orange, must fight the war through to suc- 
cess. But the main cause of his failure to find allies 
without buying them was the fact that the war no 
longer represented the paramount anxiety of Europe, 
and its continuance distorted the true alignment of 
European relations. Menaced by the greatness of 

'* An ample account of the French negotiations which drew Spain away 
from England is in Mignet's Negociations, I, partie II, section III. 

" Buat was condemned for treason and beheaded at the Hague in 
October. 



92 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

France, English and Dutch aHke had lost spirit in their 
quarrel. Arlington expressed this change in public 
sentiment when he wrote plaintively to Ormonde, "... 
and now, contrary to what it was last yeare, every- 
body now cries let us have peace with the Dutch and 
warre with France. Hat voluntas dei." ''*' Arlington, 
as we have seen, had tried to change the focus of the 
war by bringing Spain into it and thus forcing the 
hand of France. For he knew that with the accession 
of Spain, the casus belli would no longer be commercial 
rights and the empire of the sea, but the preservation of 
Flanders — a cause which must sooner or later detach 
the Dutch from France. But he had been defeated by 
the ostrich-like policy of the Council of Spain. The 
plan in itself was good. 

An account of the naval battles by which the war was 
fought out has properly no place in a biography of 
Arlington. It happened, however, that a serious mis- 
take for which he was partly responsible occurred in 
the campaign of 1666 and materially lessened England's 
chance of a speedy and successful end to the war. The 
Committee of Foreign Affairs, which was virtually the 
government of England, relied upon the Secretaries of 
State to furnish that intelligence of the movements of 
the enemy necessary for the direction of the English 
fleet. The secret service of the reign of Charles II was 
never as efficient as that organized by Thurloe for the 
Protector. One slip had already occurred in the spring 
of 1665, when a Dutch merchant fleet, very rich, passed 
through the Channel to Flushing without any adver- 
tisement of its nearness being given to the English 

se Carte MSS., 46, f. 255, Feb. 17, 1665/6. 



THE DUTCH WAR 93 

fleet." In the campaign of 1666 it was of great im- 
portance that the French squadron, under the Duke de 
Beaufort, should not join the Dutch. Popular senti- 
ment, enraged at the idea of France daring to have a 
fleet at all, demanded that Beaufort's ships should be 
blown out of the water forthwith. This year it hap- 
pened that the English fleet was ready first. The gov- 
ernment, relying upon Arlington's assurance that the 
Dutch could not soon come out, and that Beaufort was 
about to leave La Rochelle, decided to send Prince 
Rupert with thirty ships in search of the French.'^ 
Secretary Morice, having letters of his own from Hol- 
land which convinced him that the Dutch fleet was 
almost ready to sail, opposed this plan, but Arlington's 
confidence carried the day."^ That the Dutch knew of 
the proposed division is doubtful, but they suspected it, 
and completed the equipment of their fleet in such 
haste that it was able to leave the Texel May 22, Old 
Style.™ The ministers heard a rumor of its departure 

" The French ambassadors, commenting upon this negligence and upon 
the fact that the government did not know the whereabouts of the Dutch 
Smyrna fleet, wrote : " II nous paroist que le Roy d' Angleterre n'est pas 
trop bien averti la dessus, quoique ce soit une des choses des plus impor- 
tantes dont il ait interet d'estre bien informe." (Egerton MSS., 812, 
f. 103, May 16, 1665, N. S., to Lionne.) 

5^ On May 15, Arlington wrote to Ormonde that the Dutch fleet was 
in such want of men that it would not soon be abroad, and therefore, the 
English fleet " being likely to want employment, his Majesty hath re- 
solved of sending Prince Rupert with about 30 good shipps to goe find out 
Monsieur de Beaufort upon the coast of Rochelle ... If wee have the 
good luck to meete and beate them, it will bee a great and comfortable 
successe ". (Carte MSS., 46, f. 300.) 

^® Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 869. 

^^ Arlington's secretary, Williamson, after a careful review of all the 
intelligence letters of this time from Holland, concluded that the Dutch 
did not know of the division, but, he says: " They suspected it 16/26 May 
(vid. F. J. from Anvers 16/26 May) when the Counsell was not so much 
as taken here, or but the very day it was so." (State Papers, Holland, 
180, f. 207, memorandum in Williamson's hand concerning the division of 
the fleet.) But, since Carteret and Coventry discussed the division with 



94 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

on the twenty-fourth, but, on Arlington's assurance 
still, did not credit it. Nevertheless, the Secretary 
wrote to the Duke of Albemarle, who commanded the 
main body of the fleet, reporting the intelligence but 
not revoking the orders to Rupert.'^ This letter, by the 
negligence of the posts, was three days in transmission. 
Even so, it was in time to prevent the division had the 
admirals believed that the Dutch were out, but they 
were as doubting as the government.'" Rupert sailed 
away on May 29 to find Beaufort, who in reality had not 
yet left the Mediterranean, and Albemarle proceeded 
with his squadron towards the Gunfleet, whither he had 
been ordered. On the evening of May 30, the govern- 
ment was at last convinced that the Dutch were at sea ; 
the Duke of York signed orders for Rupert's recall, and 
Coventry hurried with them to Arlington's lodgings, 
for it was the Secretary's function to see to their des- 
patch.'^ Unfortunately the hour was late and Arling- 
ton had retired; his servants, ignorant of the import- 
ance of the orders, did not wake him. The next day the 
vSecretary sent the orders off by an express, and they 

Albemarle on May 14 (Hist. MSS. Comm., 15th Report, part II, p. 56, 
MSS. of J. Eliot Hodgkin — ^the Duke of Albemarle's explanation to the 
House of Commons of circumstances connected with the division of the 
fleet) , it is not impossible that the Dutch got wind of the resolution, which 
must have been taken in Committee a day or two before. 

®^ Albemarle's explanation to the House of Commons, as in the pre- 
ceding note. A letter from Arlington to Ormonde, written on May 29, 
shows that he was still ignorant of the whereabouts of the Dutch. Re- 
ferring to Rupert's departure, he wrote: "... we suppose he will bee 
informed by straggling shipps by that time hee comes to the mouth of the 
Channel that hee may the quicklyer returne to joine the body of the 
fleete for feare the Dutch who are stronger this yeare then the last, and 
perhaps upon that confidence and seeing our fleete seperated, may pres- 
ently resolve to fall upon us." (Carte MSS., 46, f. 310.) 

*2 Albemarle's explanation to the House of Commons. 

^^ Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 872-873; Pepys, Diary, June 24, 
1666, and Feb. 17, 1667/8. 



THE DUTCH WAR 95 

reached Rupert June i at Portsmouth, whither he had 
been forced to return by stress of weather.^ That very- 
day the Dutch fleet met Albemarle's division in the 
Downs, and the General, eager to have the entire glory 
of a victory, at once engaged. His squadron had al- 
ready been roughly handled when Rupert came to the 
rescue ; even then, after four days' fighting, the advan- 
tage remained with the Dutch, although there was an 
approximate equality of loss. 

All over England arose a clamor of indignation at the 
carelessness and incapacity of the government. " The 
seperation of your fleet ", declared a correspondent 
from Holland, " is cause you have not gaignd a great 
Victory. All the World admires you have been so ill 
informed." ^^ It seemed more than likely that Parlia- 
ment would likewise admire when it should assemble in 
the autumn. Pepys heard on August 26 that " both my 
Lord Arlington and Sir W. Coventry . . . have reason 
to fear, and are afeard of this Parliament coming on." ^ 
The success of the fleet in two engagements which oc- 
curred later in the summer could not atone in public 
estimation for the loss of the Four Days' Battle. In 
September the Great Fire laid waste two-thirds of 
London, and added much to the general feeling of de- 
pression. 

The Houses came together in no amiable mood, and 
a stormy and difficult session ensued, lasting all winter, 
for the Commons, having lost their confidence in the 
ministers and their affection for the war, were slow to 

«*Hist. MSS. Comm., 15th Report, part II, p. 54, MSS. of J. Eliot 
Hodgkin. Prince Rupert's explanation to the House o£ Commons of cir- 
cumstances connected with the division of the fleet. 

^5 State Papers, Holland, 180, f. 204. Intelligence letter undated. 

<^^ Diary, Aug. 26, 1666. 



96 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

grant further supply. The ministers were quarrehng 
among themselves. Arlington and Coventry disagreed 
over the responsibility for the delay of the orders to 
Rupert." The Lord Chancellor blamed Arlington for 
advising the King to yield to a bill prohibiting the im- 
portation of Irish cattle on which the Commons were 
aggressively determined.^^ As between Clarendon and 
Coventry, there had never been harmony, and now open 
hostility reigned.*" Ashley, who was always apt to bolt 
to the popular party, joined the Duke of Buckingham in 
promoting the Cattle Bill in the House of Lords, re- 
gardless of the King's displeasure. " There are scarce 
any two that dare trust one the other ", wrote a Privy 
Councillor, " but every man is jealous of his neighbour 
and those in power practising to supplant one another, 
and wants and debts increasing." '" In this gloom and 
discord the winter of 1666- 1667 was passed. The sub- 
missions of the Court at last induced the Commons to 
grant supply once more, and on February 8 the King- 
thankfully prorogued his Parliament. It remained for 
the shattered government to pull itself together as best 
it might to continue or to end the Dutch War. 

'"Diary, Sept. 15, 1666; ibid., Feb. 17, 1667/8. Clarendon, Continuation 
of Life, par. 873. 

^^ Clarendon told Lord Conway that Arlington had persuaded the King 
to pass the Cattle Bill, assuring him that this concession would induce the 
Commons to grant supply. (Carte MSS., 35, £. 259, Jan. 19, 1666/7, Con- 
way to Ormonde.) Arlington, lamenting the delay of supply, says: 
"... if wee had thought fit to gratify them 'in the beginning in some 
things they weare sett upon, the session had been at an ende by this time." 
(Ibid., 46, f. 434, Jan. 5, 1666/7, to Ormonde.) 

*^ Pepys, Diary, Aug. 26, 1666. 

'"> Carte MSS., 217, f. 433, Jan. 4, 1666/7, the Earl of Anglesey to 
Ormonde. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Fall of Clarendon. 

In the spring of 1666, the Secretary of State sur- 
prised his friends and amused his enemies by getting 
married. Hitherto he had shown himself almost insult- 
ingly oblivious to feminine charm except to note its in- 
fluence on his impressionable master. His regular at- 
tendance at Lady Castlemaine's suppers was a tribute 
to her power over the King: he came because he was 
afraid to stay away. When he observed Charles's fancy 
veering in the direction of Frances Stewart, Arlington 
hastened to pay his court to the new favorite. Gammont 
has told how he called upon her to offer his most humble 
services and best advices. Now Mistress Stewart, who 
had a mirthful and childlike disposition, had been often 
amused by the Duke of Buckingham's mimicry of the 
Secretary's pompous carriage; Arlington's grave dis- 
course brought the recollection vividly before her, and 
she began to laugh so uncontrollably that he quitted her 
in vast annoyance."^ Nevertheless, he was careful to 
invite her to sup at Goring House, whither her presence 
brought the King also,^ and it is not surprising to find 
him a member of that shameful committee that Pepys 
has named, " to get Mrs. Stewart for the King ".^ In 
thus seeking the favor of the ladies, he was too cold- 
blooded to succeed as had Bristol and Buckingham. 

^ Memoirs of the Court of Charles II by Count Grainmont, 143. 
2 Jusserand, A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II, 151. 
^ Diary, Nov. 6, 1663. 



8 



97 



98 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The turns of wit and classic quotations which deUghted 
such scholarly gentlemen as Evelyn, Sheffield, and 
Temple, provoked no tribute more flattering than a 
yawn from the beauties whose faces, as they smile from 
the walls of Hampton Court, do not suggest a taste for 
the classics. Now that his youth was past, Arlington 
would have been glad had his master found the society 
of women less alluring, but he was too wise to press 
the point. He once talked to Clarendon very soberly 
and regretfully of the King's manner of life, and of its 
effect upon his service and government. But it was 
charactistic of Arlington that when Charles himself, 
coming upon them by chance in the midst of this con- 
versation, inquired what they were talking about, he 
should turn the matter into a jest, and join the King in 
mocking the solemnity of the Chancellor.* He adapted 
himself with perfect grace and tact to the royal pleas- 
ures, but was not moved to imitate them. At the time 
of his marriage his name had never been coupled in 
sentimental connection with that of any woman,^ and 
the only friends he ever made among the ladies, Ralph 
Montagu's sister. Lady Harvey, and Lady Scroope, 
were renowned for sharp tongues and ready wit, rather 
than for beauty. 

The bride was a Dutchwoman, Isabella, daughter of 
Louis of Nassau, Lord of Beverwaert. This gentleman, 
a natural son of Prince Maurice, had been chief of the 
embassy sent to England by the States General after 
the Restoration, and was a man whose justice and 

* Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par, 919-921. 

s Comenge refers once to Mistress Scrope, first Lady of the Bedchamber 
to the Queen, as Bennet's mistress, but since the fact escaped Pepys and 
all the other newsmongers of the time, I believe he was mistaken. (Jus- 
serand, op. cit., 151.) 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 99 

patriotism made him respected by all parties in the 
United Provinces. Arlington may have met him in 
London after his return from Spain, and, if he was not 
too busy establishing himself at Court, may have re- 
marked the beauty of the Dutch ambassador's daughters 
— a beauty which they inherited from their mother, a 
daughter of the Count of Horn. If so, the vision of 
loveliness was in remote prospect, for his bride was a 
stranger to him when she came to England for the sec- 
ond time in 1666. Before the Restoration her sister 
Emilia had married the Earl of Ossory, eldest son of 
Arlington's old friend, the Duke of Ormonde. Cer- 
tainly a lady whom the Prince of Orange addressed as 
ma cousine, who was descended from the noble family 
of Horn, and sister-in-law to the Duke of Ormonde's 
heir, who, moreover, brought with her a portion of a 
hundred thousand guilders, was a partie capable of 
shedding lustre on the newness of the title and fortune 
of the first Baron Arlington. Beverwaert had died in 
1664, and the formalities of the match were good- 
naturedly undertaken by Ossory, always the Secretary's 
devoted friend. It was at his country house, Moor 
Park, that the wedding took place very quietly on the 
sixteenth of April, 1666. The King manifested a 
friendly approval of the marriage, and Lady Arlington 
was at once appointed a lady of the bedchamber to the 
Queen. 

When the betrothal was rumored abroad, it produced 
a flurry of interest that is evidence of the Secretary's 
importance in European politics. The governor- 
general of the Spanish Netherlands, hearing that 
Mademoiselle de Beverwaert would sail from Antwerp, 
received her handsomely and offered a Spanish frigate 



100 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

for her transportation.^ D'Estrades, the French am- 
bassador at the Hague, considered gravely the dip- 
lomatic possibilities of the match, and only his master's 
prohibition prevented him from tampering with the 
lady's politics/ The Elector of Brandenburg sent one 
of his gentlemen to the Hague expressly to convey his 
congratulations.^ The Dowager Princess of Orange 
was no less complimentary in her attentions, to counter- 
act which the leaders of the Louvestein party made a 
point of calling on Mademoiselle de Beverwaert.^ 

As to the lady herself, we have the bridegroom's 
testimony that she fulfilled all the good he had heard of 
her, " and that was not a little "." From a Dutch cor- 
respondent we learn that " Mademoiselle Beverwert is a 
fine discreet lady, personable and well shap'd, and will 
certainly prove an excellent wife. She is not given to 
coqueterie "."^ Sir John Evelyn found her good- 
natured and obliging, but hints at ambition and ex- 
travagance." Such faults as these, however, were 
merits in the eyes of her husband, who longed to make 
a figure in society, and had now no need to count the 
cost. 

In the marriage contract we note the Secretary's 
expectation that in five years he will be in receipt of a 
" full and clear yearly value of foure thousand pounds 

^ State Papers, Spain, 50, f. 196, April, 1666, the Marquis de Castel 
Rodrigo to Mademoiselle de Beverwaert. 

7 Arch. Afif. Etr., Hollande, 79, Jan. 21, 1666, N. S., D'Estrades to 
Lionne. Quoted in the Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch 
Genootschap, XXVII, 552, footnote. 

8 Ibid. 

9 Ibid. 

10 Carte MSS., 46, f. 286, April 21, 1666, Arlington to Ormonde. 

'^ Ibid., 222, f, 81, Jan. 15, 1666, N. S., intelligence letter to Sir Philip 
Frowde. 

"Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 10, 1677. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON loi 

over and above charges and incumbrances whatsoever, 
publick Taxes onely excepted " from his estates alone." 
This, for a man who five years ago owned nothing but 
the equipage w4th which he made his appearance at 
Court, testifies to skill and energy in acquisition. But 
four thousand pounds a year, even at the date of Arling- 
ton's marriage, represents but a fraction of his income. 
From his place he received the modest sum of eighteen 
hundred pounds a year — not enough, he declared, to 
give him wherewithal to dine the next week after he 
left it." But there were fees in addition, and if some of 
these swelled to the proportions of bribes, it is not likely 
that Arlington turned from them, or that any man of 
his time would have been more scrupulous. In 1665, 
upon the death of Daniel O'Neill who had succeeded 
Bishop as Postmaster, Arlington and Lord Berkeley 
took over the lease, and at its expiration in December, 
1666, Arlington became sole Postmaster, and entitled 
to a large share of the profits of that ofifice.""^ Out of the 
confiscations in Ireland he had received the estate of 
Lord Clanmalira, worth about a thousand pounds a 
year.""^ By a proviso inserted in the Explanatory Act, 
he was allowed the sum of ten thousand pounds from 



"Carte MSS., 69, f. 608, April 16, 1666. 

^* Ibid., 46, f. 37, April 11, 1663, Bennet to Ormonde, 

^^ Cal. St. P., Dom., 1665-1666, p. 5. Arlington paid £5382 10 s. a year 
to the Duke of York, on whom the King had conferred the rent of the 
Post Office. Part of the profits paid for the secret service, and there may- 
have been other charges, as well as current expenses to be deducted from 
the profits, but it is probable that Arlington cleared a large amount. 
D'Estrades, writing in 1662, said the place was worth two hundred 
thousand francs a year, but that is probably an exaggeration. (D'Es- 
trades, Lettres, I, 232.) 

"Carte MSS., 42, f. 744; ihid., 43, f. 569. 



102 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the Irish revenue." His estate was still in the making/' 
The King had leased to him for a long term of years 
Marylebone Park and St. John's Wood, which merited 
their names then, though now they are well within the 
vast circumference of London.^® Holmby House, once 
the prison of Charles I, had been restored by his son 
and presented to Arlington, who afterwards sold it to 
the Duke of York.""" In its stead he purchased a coun- 
try seat called Euston Hall, in Suffolk not far from 
Saxham where he was born, and but fifteen miles from 
Newmarket whither the Court went every year for 
the races. The house he transformed into " a very 
noble pile . . . with a vast expense made not only capa- 
ble and roomsome but very magnificent and commodi- 
ous, as well within as without, nor less splendidly fur- 
nished ".^ The grounds were given baronial extent 
in 1671 by the King's license to impark two thousand 
acres in the surrounding parishes.^'' 

"Carte, Life of Ormonde, bk. VI, par. 173-174. The royal warrant is 
in the Carte MSS., 43, f. 326, Jan. 30, 1663/4. When Arlington was de- 
fending himself before the House of Commons, he explained that the ten 
thousand pounds from Ireland had been allowed him for secret service 
(p. 232), but the truth of his statement is open to question. He was 
entirely safe in saying that the money had been expended for intelligence, 
since he had never to render an account of money so spent. 

*s An indication of the value of Arlington's estate at the time of his 
death is furnished by his will (Probate Office, Somerset House), from 
which it is apparent that the large grants he had received were but for 
his life, and that the remainder was not to his daughter, but to his 
daughter's husband the Duke of Grafton and his heirs. As payment for 
Arlington's acceptance of this condition, the King had promised him the 
sum of eighty thousand pounds, only part of which had been received in 
1685. This amount represents the value of the renunciation, not of the 
estate itself which may have been much greater. 

19 Cal. St. P., Dom., 1663-1664, p. 585. 

^^ Magalotti, Travels of Cosmo the Third, 248. 

21 Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 16, 1671. 

22 Cal. St. P., Dom., 1671, p. 592. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 103 

For his London residence the Secretary had bought 
Goring House from the last Lord Goring. It stood on 
the site where James I had attempted the cultivation of 
mulberry trees for his silk-worms, and where Bucking- 
ham Palace now stands.^' A country quiet still reigned 
in the neighborhood; open fields stretched away on 
either side, and in front lay the royal pleasure ground, 
St. James's Park. Evelyn, whose taste suggested many 
improvements here and at Euston, says the house was 
" ill-built but the place capable of being made a pretty 
villa '\^ Arlington lavished immense sums in its im- 
provement until it was a treasure-house of beautiful 
things. Here he practised the fine art of entertaining 
which he understood and loved better than any man in 
England, and in which Lady Arlington, happily, proved 
no less gifted than himself. Anyone who by any title 
could claim the notice of polite society was made wel- 
come at Goring House. Foreigners found the Secre- 
tary's hospitality particularly pleasant by reason of his 
easy command of tongues. The old French exile Saint- 
Evremond was a frequent guest, and when he went to 
Holland in 1668, did not neglect to make graceful ac^ 
knowledgment of the pleasures he had enjoyed under 
that roof. So intense was his yearning, he wrote plain- 
tively, for the gay company that gathered at Arlington's 
table, that he had been impelled to read Livy more than 
six times to reconcile himself to the spirit of republics.^^ 

As we have seen, the session of Parliament that 
ended on February 8, 1667, left the ministers in much 
dissatisfaction with one another. Clarendon, Arlington, 
and Coventry agreed in but one thing, that the Duke of 

23 Thornbury, Old and New London, IV, 62. 

^ Diary, March 29, 1665. 

25 State Papers, Holland, 184, f. 266, July 5, 1668. 



104 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Buckingham was the instigator of all the troubles of the 
session. He had posed as the people's champion and 
encouraged the hue and cry in the Commons over the 
mismanagement of the war and the extravagance of 
the government. In the House of Lords he had quar- 
reled with Arlington and the Earl of Ossory over the 
Irish Cattle Bill/'' which he cared nothing about but 
promoted because it was popular. As soon as the 
Houses were prorogued, his punishment was deter- 
mined. A charge of treasonable correspondence with 
a vagabond astrologer whom he was known to frequent 
was trumped up against him by the ministers with the 
King's approval.''^ The Duke was arrested and spent 
two weeks in the Tower, but the demonstration of his 
popularity among Parliament men and in the City made 
it unwise to proceed further against him, particularly 
as Lady Castlemaine had interested herself in obtaining 
his release. He was examined before the Privy Coun- 
cil by Arlington, to whom he showed himself as im- 
pertinent and resentful as he dared in the presence of 
the King. " And it is said ", wrote Pepys, " that when 
he was charged with making himself popular — as in- 
deed he is, for many of the discontented Parliament 
. . . did attend at the Council-chamber when he was 
examined — he should answer that whoever was com- 
mitted to prison by my Lord Chancellor or my Lord 
Arlington could not want being popular." "" The King, 

26 Carte MSS., 217, f. 348, Oct. 27, 1666, the Earl of Anglesey to Or- 
monde. 

2^ For this episode, see Gardner's George VilUers, 170-182, and Claren- 
don, Continuation of Life, par. 1118-1132. Arlington certainly played the 
most conspicuous part in the prosecution, but from the fact that Clarendon 
upholds his action, it may be inferred that the Chancellor also was a 
party to the plot. 

^^ Diary, July 17, 1667. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 105 

whose anger was never lasting, showed no desire to 
press the charge, which on examination appeared flimsy- 
enough, if not absolutely untenable, so the Duke was 
released, more popular than ever and fully disposed to 
repay with interest the offices of Clarendon and Arling- 
ton. Pepys moralized over the episode : '' It is worth 
considering the ill state a Minister of State is in, under 
such a Prince as our's is ; for, undoubtedly, neither of 
those two great men would have been so fierce against 
the Duke of Buckingham at the Council-table the other 
day, had they not been assured of the King's good lik- 
ing, and supporting them therein : whereas, perhaps at 
the desire of my Lady Castlemaine . . . the Duke of 
Buckingham is well received again, and now these men 
delivered up to the interest he can make for his re- 
venge." ^ Pepys was a little premature : it is true that 
Lady Castlemaine had obtained for the Duke the priv- 
ilege of kissing the King's hand, but he was still in dis- 
favor, and temporarily abandoned the role of leader of 
the people for that of the devoted and unquestioning 
subject. 

The extinguishing of Buckingham had not simplified 
the problems by which the government was beset. Sup- 
ply had been granted so late that it seemed almost im- 
possible to set out the fleet that spring. That the Com- 
mittee of Foreign Affairs yielded so easily to the seem- 
ing impossibility was due to a conviction that peace 
was at hand. To discover the best terms obtainable for 
England, the government was busy, in the spring of 
1667, with two secret negotiations, the one with France, 
conducted by the Earl of St. Albans at Paris and 
managed by Clarendon; the other carried on at the 

29 Ihid. 



io6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Hague by the Imperial envoy, the Baron von Lisola, 
acting on an understanding with ArHngton. The pur- 
pose of the first was to discover whether Louis XIV 
could be bribed into an underhand betrayal of his ally : 
England would temporarily abstain from interference 
in any contest for Flanders if Louis would force the 
Dutch into a treaty of peace favorable to England.^" 
The purpose of Lisola's journey was to attempt once 
more a peace with the Dutch apart from France. 
Lisola was the most astute and determined diplomat 
with whom Louis XIV had to contend. He had long 
ago discerned the march of the French King's ambi- 
tion and was not in the least blinded by Louis's altru- 
ism in assisting the Dutch. Though much hampered 
by the paltering Courts at Vienna and Madrid, he de- 
voted his life to building up a coalition against France, 
sometimes in accordance with his instructions, some- 
times in defiance of them. In this year 1667, he pub- 
lished his answer to Louis's claim on Flanders, an 
eloquent appeal to the attention of Europe entitled Le 
Bouclier d'Etat et de Justice, which ranks among the 
great political pamphlets of all time, and evoked at the 
French Court a flattering tribute of hate. Lisola re- 
aHzed that the first step towards the preservation of 
Flanders was to facilitate peace between England and 
the Dutch. He believed that De Witt was no longer 
as firmly attached to France as he had been, the bene- 
fits of the French alliance having proved in some re- 
spects rather illusory. Arlington's weaker spirit was 
carried away by the envoy's confidence and energy, 
and he sent Lisola off to Holland in March with a 
letter of credence, to see what could be done with De 

3" Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 1038- 1040. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 107 

Witt."^ In the meanwhile all parties to the war were 
engaged in a preliminary wrangle over the choice of 
a place for the treaty. 

Among all these possibilities it seemed certain to the 
English ministers that peace could not be long delayed, 
so they did not bestir themselves to make ready the 
fleet. On the contrary, they advised the King unani- 
mously to forego that expense, and allow such mer- 
chant ships as would to go abroad, as if the peace were 
already made.^" Arlington, who had noted with pain 
the languishing of commerce during the war, watched 
the exodus of merchantmen that availed themselves of 
this permission, with rare enthusiasm. " It is certain 
that England never saw such a Trade go out; and if 
they have the good luck to come home again as safely, 
we shall have no cause to repent the Councel we have 
followed herein, whatever the success of the Dutch 
Fleet." '' 

Rash remark ! Two days after the Secretary spoke 
thus slightingly of the Dutch fleet, its sails were seen 
oft Harwich. The negotiations of St. Albans and 
Lisola not only failed of their end, but did actual harm 
by convincing both French and Dutch of the English 
bad faith.^ Moreover, Louis XIV had no intention 

31 His errand, as the Secretary wrote to the Earl of Sandwich, was, " to 
try whither hee can prevaile with the leading persons there to accommo- 
date with his Majesty upon faire and honourable grounds ". (State 
Papers, Spain, 52, f. 88, March 11, 1666/7. Draft in Arlington's hand.) 
Clarendon's account of this trial would lead one to suppose that the envoy 
went of his own initiative. {Continuation of Life, par, 1034.) 

^ Ibid., par. 1018-1027. According to the Duke of York, the plan 
was approved by Clarendon, Southampton, and Albemarle. (Clarke, 
James II, I, 425.) 

^Arlington's Letters, I, 171, June 5, 1667. To Sir Robert Southwell, 

3* De Witt confided Lisola's errand to the French ambassador, and him- 
self refused to see the imperial envoy, though he sent him word assuring 
him of his desire for peace. (D'Estrades, Lettres, V, 98, March 17, 1667, 



io8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

of allowing Dutch and English to come too amicably to 
a peace. Therefore, although the plenipotentiaries of 
all the belligerents met at Breda in May, the Dutch fleet 
went to sea as usual. Arlington's information was 
complete on this point : he knew the Dutch were at sea, 
but he believed that their coming was " but to make a 
bravado upon our Coast, to compleate which they are 
saide to have many land men aborde which wee suppose 
they will not venture to lande if it weare but for feare 
of protracting the warre ".^' This extraordinary blind- 
ness would be entirely incomprehensible but for one 
fact. Louis XIV, without awaiting the issue of nego- 
tiations at Breda, had begun his conquest of the Span- 
ish Netherlands. His progress, as the Secretary knew, 
must inspire the Dutch with fear lest when the barrier 
between them and France was gone, their independence 
would be of short duration. The longer the war with 
England lasted, reasoned Arlington, the more hopeless 
would become the saving of Flanders, to which the 
Dutch could certainly not apply themselves until peace 
were signed. So he believed that the coming of their 
fleet was only to taunt the English with their unreadi- 
ness, which done, they would cruise along the coast of 
Flanders to have an eye on the proceedings of the 
P>ench.'^ The lords Heutenant of the eastern counties 



N. wS., D'Estrades to Lionne; ihid., 163, April 21, 1667, N. S., the same to 
Louis XIV; Longin, Un Diplomat e Franc-Comtois, 94; Pribram, Franz 
Paul, Freiherr von Lisola, 309.) Louis XIV was enraged that Charles 
should employ against him the man whose diplomatic ability he most 
feared. By his orders D'Estrades informed De Witt of St, Albans's nego- 
tiation at Paris. (D'Estrades, Lettres, V, 98, 163.) 

35 Carte MSS., 46, f. 481, May 25, 1667, Arlington to Ormonde. 

3" " What course they steere is not knowne," wrote Arlington's secre- 
tary, " most likely towards our coasts, and thence to cruise before that of 
Flanders." (State Papers, Domestic, Charles II, 231, f. 23. Williamson's 
Journal, June 3, 1667.) Arlington seems to have labored under the 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 109 

were ordered to their posts, but there was little excite- 
ment or alarm. 

The event proved that De Witt had his own ideas of 
the way to hasten the peace. On June 11, the Dutch 
fleet sailed up the Medway to Chatham, broke the chain 
which had been hurriedly stretched across the river to 
guard the English great-ships, and burned six men-of- 
war, carrying off the Royal Charles. London was 
panic-stricken — then furious. vSo violent was the de- 
mand for protection that, with his Treasury empty, the 
King was obliged to levy forces, though half-fearful 
lest they mutiny against him. The terrified ministers 
fell upon the scapegoat that came most obviously to 
hand: Sir Peter Pett, Commissioner of the Navy, to 
whose care the security of Chatham had been en- 
trusted, was sent to the Tower. "If he deserve hang- 
ing ", wrote Arlington wistfully, " as most thinke hee 
does, and have it, much of the staine will be wip'd off of 
the Gouverment which lyes heavily upon it."^^ When 
Pett came before the Council for examination, the Sec- 
retary and Coventry showed him small mercy, declaring 
that '' if he was not guilty, the world would think them 
all guilty ".^^ Arlington was unhappily conscious that 



impression that Lisola had really convinced De Witt that it was to his 
interest to hurry through the peace. In the instructions for the ambassa- 
dors going to Breda, the Secretary concludes: " And you will then be able 
to discover how far the Baron Isola (though he be not like to be present) 
hath proceeded in those professions he made of advanceing the peace, and 
whether he had done any of those offices with De Witt, which he pre- 
tended to have power and inclination to performe. And if Monsieur 
Friquet the Emperor's Envoye be at Breda, you will live with all kindnes 
towards him, and by him you will be able to discerne whether Dewitt hath 
been wrought upon or noe." (State Papers, Holland, 182, f. 245, April 18, 
1667. Instructions to Lord Holies and Henry Coventry.) 

"Carte MSS., 46, f. 492, June 18, 1667, Arlington to Ormonde. 

38 Pepys, Diary, June 19, 1667. 



no THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

although the immediate failure might be fathered upon 
the Commissioners of the Navy, the basic fault lay in 
the interpretation of the situation abroad, for which 
he was justly responsible. His discouragement was 
extreme : " We are fallen into a more troublesome 
world than ever I thought I should live to see", he 
wrote to Ormonde. " God deliver us well out of it ! " ^* 
The Privy Council was hurriedly summoned to ad- 
vise in this crisis, as it was always summoned when the 
ministers were afraid of responsibility. In accordance 
with its decision, orders were hastened to the ambas- 
sadors at Breda to yield the points they had hitherto 
contested. Parliament, which stood prorogued to 
October, was summoned for July 25. But when that 
day came, the " snarling Peace ", as Temple called it, 
had been signed. Relieved on that score, the King was 
glad to prorogue the assembly to its old date in October, 
and the government began feverishly to put its house 
in order against the moment when the redoubtable 
Commons should call for an account. Orders volumi- 
nously signed were sent by the Council to justices of 
the peace throughout England, insisting upon the appre- 
hension of priests and Jesuits, and the full execution of 
the laws against Popery. The Treasury, upon South- 
ampton's death in May, had been handed over to a 
commission of five: Albemarle, Ashley, Sir William 
Coventry, Sir Thomas Clifford, and Sir John Dun- 
combe.'"' The Commissioners now toiled over an in- 

33 Carte MSS., 46, f. 492, June 18, 1667, Arlington to Ormonde. 

40 Pepys mentions three times a rumor that Arlington was to become 
Treasurer in succession to Southampton. {Diary, March 18 and 19, 
1666/7, and May i, 1667.) From the King's subsequent firmness in 
refusing this office to Arlington, it does not seem probable that he con- 
sidered appointing him on this occasion. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON in 

spection of all branches of the revenue and of all re- 
current expenses, with the intention of drawing up a 
program of retrenchment which should enable the King 
to live within his income. 

The climax of reform was reached in the dismissal 
of Clarendon. His great office and the authority he 
claimed for it made him responsible, in the public mind, 
for all the failures of the government, so that he shel- 
tered the very men he hated : the ill-success of the war, 
the mismanagement of the fleet, the failure of the for- 
eign policy, and the shame of the peace — all that had 
gone amiss since the Restoration was attributed to his 
counsel regardless of consistency. Everywhere he was 
savagely denounced. He could no longer be useful 
to the King, and Charles, wearied of his lectures and 
fault-finding, no longer protected him. His domineer- 
ing, uncompromising spirit had left him no friend in 
all the Court, except his son-in-law, the Duke of York. 

The motion for the Chancellor's dismissal came from 
Arlington and Coventry. Realizing the danger in 
which they themselves would stand when the Commons 
should meet, they attempted to forestall investigation 
by concentrating the blame for all ministerial short- 
comings and offering up the Chancellor as an exculpa- 
tory sacrifice. Coventry made no secret of his deter- 
mination to have Clarendon removed.*^ He advocated 
it openly and freely, surrendering his place of Secretary 
to the Duke of York that he might not be hampered by 
that connection. Such frankness was impossible to 
Arlington. In faultless phrasing he represented the 
decision as originating with the King, but it was he and 
not Coventry who steadied the royal resolution, waver- 

*^ Ibid., Sept. 2, 1667. 



112 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

ing under the reproaches of the Chancellor and the 
Duke of York.^ In so far as he was able, Arlington 
suppressed all symptoms of any personal grudge, justi- 
fying the step broadly on the ground of expediency. 
'' I cannot but still bee of the opinion ", he explained to 
Ormonde, " that not only the publique affaires will bee 
bettered by this change, but that my Lord Chancellor 
will find greater ease by it then hee seemes yet to be- 
lieve hee shall." "^ But Clarendon, leaving Whitehall 
one day after a sad interview with the King, saw Lord 
Arlington looking down at him " with great gaiety and 
triumph " from a window of Lady Castlemaine's lodg- 
ings, in evident enjoyment of the scene.** 

But if he laughed with Lady Castlemaine and so far 
forgot his pose of personal detachment as to taunt the 
old man's friends with his impotence*^ — though the 
incident is unlike Arlington, and may have been an 
attempt at conciliation that bitterness distorted — the 
surrender of the seals by Clarendon was by no means 
the end of his anxiety. He had yet the Duke of Buck- 
ingham to deal with. Buckingham was the man of the 
hour. His enemies were delivered into his hand, and he 
could crush them at will. As the day for the meeting of 
Parliament drew nearer, respect for his popularity 
with the House of Commons increased. He had no 

^ When he believed that the King might, after all, change his mind, 
Arlington wrote in his disinterested fashion: " If he does soe, I feare the 
next sessions of Parliament will be a very troublesome one; and that those 
things which the Government standes essentially in neede off, will very 
hardly bee attaind, and my Lorde Chancellor himselfe suffer more then hee 
would have done if hee had retired. I heartily pray it may be otherwise; 
but I feare I shall bee a true prophet, and then not bee exposed to see 
much censure as I am for my opinion now." (Lister, Life of Clarendon, 
III, 468, Aug. 27, 1667, Arlington to Ormonde.) 

•^^ Ibid., 470, Aug. 31, 1667. 

** Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 1143. 

*s Ihid., par. 11 50. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 113 

difficulty in getting himself recognized as a martyr for 
love of Parliaments and as arbiter of the next session."^ 
His first intention was to destroy Arlington, who had 
played the most conspicuous part in contriving his brief 
disgrace. To this end he sent a friend to the Chancellor, 
shortly before the latter's dismissal, desiring him " to 
deal freely with him concerning the Lord Arlington, 
whom he knew to be an enemy to both of them; and 
that he must have him examined upon that conspiracy, 
which he hoped he would not take ill ". But the Chan- 
cellor, who had himself been a party to the astrological 
episode, felt obliged to assure him that there had been 
no conspiracy, and that Lord Arlington had done no 
more than his duty, " which testimony ", he allowed 
himself to add, " could proceed only from justice, since 
he well knew that lord did not wish him well "/' 

Thus rebuffed, the Duke looked on indifferently 
enough when Clarendon was discharged from his of- 
fice. Arlington and Coventry saw in him the dictator 
of the House of Commons and exerted themselves to 
recover his good graces. By their instrumentality 
Buckingham was graciously received by the King in a 
" much nearer reconciliation " than the Countess of 
Castlemaine had been able to effect.^ At the same time 

^ " II gouvernoit le Parlement lors qu'il fut separe il y a huit mois, 
depuis cela il a perdu toutes ses charges, il a este exile et mis dans la Tour, 
et aujourdhuy il est considere comme le Martir de cette assemblee. II est 
vray qu'il est recherche de toute I'Angleterre et mesme des etrangers." 
(Arch. Aflf, Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 124, Oct. 10, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Louis XIV.) 

*^ Clarendon, Continuation of Life, par. 1152. 

*^ " La Cabale du due de Bouquinquan qui est la plus accreditee du 
parlement a donne assez de crainte a Milord Arlinton et a Couventri de se 
joindre aux amis du Chancelier Heiden pour les obliger de reconcilier ce 
due avec leur maistre lequel I'a restabli dans toutes ses charges." (Arch. 
AflF. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 103, Sept. 29, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Louis XIV.) 



114 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the Duke was restored to the places he had held before 
his disgrace. This propitiation paved the way for a 
reconciliation with Arlington, which was, accordingly, 
formally arranged by mutual friends.*® In this shallow 
soil the Secretary labored to cultivate a sudden friend- 
ship with all the courtier's arts he knew. Coventry, 
though less adept at flattery, and less timid, was anxious 
to attract the Duke into the Court party, though not to 
make him the head of it. But Buckingham, seeing all 
the world running to do him honor, enjoyed prolonging 
the suspense. " He assumes here ", reported the French 
Ambassador, " a role important enough to surprise 
strangers, who do not know the extent of his self- 
sufficiency. He is, indeed, very much considered, and 
in a way to be sought after by every one." ^" 

Second in importance only to the glorification of 
Buckingham was the reappearance of the Earl of Bris- 
tol. In 1664 he had petitioned the King with great 
pathos to allow him to seek medical treatment in Lon- 
don, he being a prey to several diseases the least of 
which he affirmed would certainly prove mortal.'^ Now, 
at the news of the Chancellor's disgrace, he was miracu- 
lously whole, and returned in triumph to Court, where 
he prepared himself to deliver his blow at the fallen 
man when Parliament should assemble. 

The Houses met on October 10, and the Commons 
displayed at once the consciousness of mastery that the 
events of the summer allowed them, Arlington and 
Coventry had hoped they would be content with the dis- 

49 Carte MSS., 35, f. 737, Sept, 28, 1667, Carlingford to Ormonde; ibid., 
220, f, 301, Oct. 22, 1667, Ossory to Ormonde, 

60 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 119, Oct, 6, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV, 

^^ Ibid.^ 84, f. 39, Nov. 24, 1664, N. S., Comenge to Lionne. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 115 

missal of Clarendon and not take it upon themselves to 
question or punish the other ministers. Far from ac- 
cepting so tame a program, the House began at once a 
rigid inquiry into the miscarriages of the war, in the 
course of which the Secretary was summoned to ac- 
count for the faulty intelligence which had caused the 
division of the fleet in 1666, and Coventry, to explain 
why no fleet had been sent out in 1667.''^ Therefore 
neither was able to oppose the impeachment of Claren- 
don which was being prepared in the Commons at the 
same time that their own conduct was under investiga- 
tion. " It has been hinted to my Lord Arlington and to 
Coventry that there must be matter for Parliament, 
and that they might very well serve, if the Chancellor 
were taken away." ^' The most ominous feature of the 
situation was that the Secretary could no longer be 
certain of the King, for Charles had been won by Buck- 
ingham's promise that the House, when it should be 
satisfied in regard to the ministers, would give him 
money .^* According to Pepys, Buckingham and Bristol 
were now " the only counsel the King follows, so as 
Arlington and Coventry are come to signify little ".'' 
The French Ambassador noted a rumor that Arlington 
was to be dismissed.^ 

^2 " Le Chancelier auroit este accuse ce matin si Couventri et le Milord 
Arlincton qui sont sur le tapis ne I'eussent empesche. Le premier qui a 
este Secretaire de Monsieur le due d'York desirant estre justifie sur sa con- 
duite dans la Marine. Et I'autre le souhaitant aussi sur des Avis qu'il a 
donnez, et dent il estoit mal informe que la flotte Holandoise ne pouvoit 
pas d'un mois sortir de leurs ports, ny se mettre en Mer, peu de Jours 
avant le grand combat qui dura quatre Jours." {Ibid., 89, f. 19s, Nov. 3, 
1667, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV.) 

53 Ibid., 89, f. 181, Oct. 30, 1667, N. S., the same to the same. 

54 Carte MSS., 35, f. 778, Oct. 22, 1667, Conway to Ormonde. 
^^ Diary, Nov. 15, 1667. 

56 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 192, Oct. 31, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 



ii6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

In this critical situation, the two discredited ministers 
deserted each other. To Coventry, who was a man of 
violent dislikes, even the reinstatement of Clarendon 
was preferable to Buckingham's supremacy. There- 
fore he showed no enthusiasm for the impeachment and 
even absented himself from the House one day when 
the debate raged hottest, thus drawing upon himself 
the King's disapproval.'^ He made an effort, also to 
recover the confidence of the Duke of York.^' Arlington 
was too frightened to revolt. At the King's command, 
he revised the articles of impeachment to be brought 
against Clarendon.'^ Sir Robert Carr, who had married 
Arlington's sister Elizabeth, and Sir Thomas Lyttel- 
ton, the Secretary's most reliable henchman in the 
Commons, were among those members who volun- 
teered to bring proof of certain of the accusations.^ 
In the middle of November, the Commons sent the 
impeachment to the House of Lords, with a demand 
that the ex-Chancellor be committed to the Tower. 
But here Clarendon's adherents developed unexpected 
strength, and carried a vote against commitment, on 
the ground that such proceeding was not warranted 
by a general impeachment in which no specific accu- 
sations had been made. From this decision twenty- 
six of the Lords under Buckingham's leadership regis- 
tered their dissent, Arlington being one of the number.^ 

The Commons were not prepared to yield their point ; 
the Lords maintained theirs. Thus matters stood at 

" Carte MSS., 220, f. 326, Jan. 4, 1667/8, Ossory to Ormonde, 

^^Ibid.; also Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 91, f. 35, Jan. 12, 1668, N. S,, 
Ruvigny to Louis XIV. 

S9 Arch. Aff. £tr., Angleterre, 89, f. 178, Oct. 30, 1667, N. S., the same 
to the same. 

«o Clarendon MSS., 85, f. 428. Articles of the impeachment, with 
names of those undertaking to prove them. 

" Lords' Journal, Nov. 20, 1667. 



THE FALL OF CLARENDON 117 

the end of November, when, to the general surprise, 
Clarendon fled to France. He had acted unwisely on a 
suggestion purporting to come from the King, which 
may, however, have originated with Arlington, who 
had much to fear from either the success or the failure 
of the impeachment. Certainly he knew that Clarendon 
would go, several days before the flight.*^ 

This put an end to the defense, but it also checked 
the Buckingham faction in mid-career. Parliament 
was uncertain what to do next, and so the Christmas 
holidays found and dispersed it. It had come to no 
conclusions regarding the miscarriages of the war, nor 
had it voted supply. It had not accomplished anything 
at all, except to minister to the greatness of the Duke of 
Buckingham. 

*^ See his letters to Ormonde, Lister, Life of Clarendon, III, 472, 473. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Triple Alliance. 

Who was to succeed the Earl of Clarendon as first 
minister? To the Duke of Buckingham that question 
was already answered, and the circumstances of the 
past few months lent weight to his pretension. But to 
Buckingham the leading place in the ministry meant 
not so much an opportunity to govern as the satisfaction 
of preening himself in the public eye. If he had been 
capable of a settled policy, he had not the industry 
necessary to sustain it.. Arlington, who knew the insta- 
bility of the Duke, was content to bide his time and in 
the meanwhile reestablish his influence over the King. 
His estrangement from Coventry was now complete, 
for each regarded the other as a renegade and resented 
angrily any imputation of fault in himself.^ Mutual 
detestation reigned frankly between Coventry and 
Buckingham. Pepys heard with regret, " That this 
new faction do not endure, nor the King, Sir W. Cov- 
entry; but yet that he is so useful that they cannot be 
without him ; but that he is not now called to the Cabal. 
That my Lord of Buckingham, BristoU and Arlington, 
do seem to agree in these things ; but that they do not 
in their hearts trust one another, but do drive several 
ways, all of them." ^ 

1 " I do hear of all handes that there is a great difference at this 
day between my Lord Arlington and Sir William Coventry, which I am 
sorry for." (Pepys, Diary, Feb. 13, 1667/8.) 

" I am advertised that the difference betweene the Lord Arlington and 
Sir Will Coventry is growne to that height that it is not likely to be 
composed." (Carte MSS., 36, f. 218, D'iblin, March 3, 1667/8, Michael 
Boyle, archbishop of Dublin, to Ormonde.) 

2 Diary, Dec. 30, 1667. 

118 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 119 

To the Secretary's intense irritation, Buckingham 
trespassed on the field which, now that Clarendon was 
gone, he had hoped to make peculiarly his own, that of 
foreign affairs. Not only was the Duke a member of 
the committee for such matters, but he attached himself 
to the Secretary in all official intercourse with foreign 
ambassadors and ministers.^ Since Clarendon's dis- 
missal, the Foreign Committee included, besides the two 
Secretaries and the Duke of Buckingham, the new 
Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgman, a man of legal 
rather than political turn of mind, the Duke of Albe- 
marle, Lord Robartes, and, of course, the Duke of York 
when he cared to attend. 

The foreign situation was at this time particularly 
critical. Louis XIV had prospered well in his conquest 
of Flanders during the summer of 1667 — so well that 
unless Spain were able to find powerful allies, her prov- 
inces were lost. But, of the powers most interested in 
preserving Flanders to Spain, the Emperor was too 
irresolute and too fearful of France to act ; the Dutch 
were still under the obligations of their alliance with 

^ The French ambassador, Ruvigny, tells that when the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs was reorganized after Clarendon's dismissal, he, fearing 
Arlington's affection for Spain, impressed upon Buckingham the impor- 
tance of his obtaining a place on it, in order to redress the balance in 
favor of France. Buckingham thereupon sent his confidant, Leighton, to 
the Secretary, to demand that the Duke be included, but Arlington tried 
to excuse himself on the plea that he lacked the credit. Leighton told 
him flatly that if the thing were not done in three days, he need expect 
nothing from the friendship of the Duke of Buckingham. This so alarmed 
Arlington that he procured the appointment at once. (Arch. Aff. Etr., 
Angleterre, 91, f. 15, Jan. 5, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV.) But 
Buckingham had been appointed to the Committee in October (Carte 
MSS., 46, f. 567, Oct. 29, 1667, Arlington to Ormonde), whereas Ruvigny, 
writing on Dec. 26/Jan. 5, relates this incident as of recent occurrence. 
It is possible that Arlington may have attempted to reorganize the Com- 
mittee after the adjournment of Parliament in order to be rid of Buck- 
ingham, but I am inclined to believe that Ruvigny was misled by a fabri- 
cation of Leighton's whose vocation it was to exalt the Duke of Buckin- 
hani. 



120 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Louis XIV; and England was practically pledged to 
temporary neutrality by engagements contracted with 
each of the belligerent powers. When angling for a 
peace in April, 1667, Charles had been lured into a 
promise not to enter into any alliance or treaty preju- 
dicial to the interests of France for the space of one 
year.* In May of that year the Earl of Sandwich, 
Charles's ambassador at Madrid, had signed two trea- 
ties with Spain : the one a treaty of commerce very ad- 
vantageous to England ; the other, an arrangement for a 
truce with Portugal, to be accomplished by the media- 
tion of England with that Crown. The latter concluded 
with a secret article by which the Kings of England and 
Spain agreed not to assist each other's enemies." But 
neither France nor Spain was aware of Charles's en- 
gagement to the other, and each hoped to win him to an 
active alliance. 

To this end Louis XIV had sent the Huguenot Mar- 
quis de Ruvigny to London as his ambassador in the 
autumn of 1667.^ Ruvigny knew England well, and 
had many friends at Court, among whom he could count 
the King himself. No ambassador was ever more fully 
or more accurately informed of what went on in the 
government to which he was accredited, but he lacked 
imagination to supplement his knowledge, and was 
over-apt to despise the intelligence of men that opposed 
him. He had to reckon with three ambassadors whom 

* This engagement, which was reciprocal in form, had been agreed to 
by England in return for Louis's promise to restore the West Indian 
islands which the French had taken from the English during the war. 
(Mignet, Negociations, II, 43-45.) In the case of English St. Christo- 
pher's, the fulfilment of this promise was long delayed. 

^ The treaty regarding Portugal, with the secret article, is in volume II 
of Arlington's Letters, 240-254. 

® Mignet, Negociations, II, 505-512, instructions of the Marquis de Ru- 
vigny, Aug. II, 1667, N. S. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 121 

the States General had sent over after the Peace of 
Breda to sound Charles II on the problem of Flanders. 
There was also the Count de Molina, the Spanish am- 
bassador, a man, as Clarendon has said, '' rather sincere 
than subtle ", but he was managed and, as it were, edited, 
by the representative of the other branch of the House 
of Austria, the Baron von Lisola. This gentleman had 
returned after his fruitless errand to Holland, bearing 
instructions to negotiate a defensive league between 
England, Spain, and the Empire/ 

Ruvigny's proposal of an offensive and defensive 
league was received with enthusiasm by Charles II, 
who, however, assured him that both Parliament and 
the Committee of Foreign Affairs were hostile to 
France, and hinted that only very solid material ad- 
vantages would win public consent to a French alli- 
ance/ When the ambassador broached his errand to 
Arlington, the Secretary remained entirely unmoved, 
and after a perfunctory compliment, spoke of finishing 
the commercial treaty, left incomplete by Holies when 
France declared war upon England/ Ruvigny easily 
penetrated this subterfuge. " The King of England ", 
he wrote to his master, " desires a union with your 
Majesty, but he is turned aside by my Lord ArHngton, 
who wishes it no more than the Count de Molina." " 

It was true that the Secretary was not considering a 
league with France at all, but he was revolving certain 
other possibilities and weighing their relative advan- 
tages to England. France, he believed, would be will- 
ing to pay Charles II to remain neutral : " It is true 

' Longin, Un Diplomate Franc-Comtois, loi. 

8 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 93, Sept. 22, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Lionne. 

9 Ibid. 

^'^ Ibid., 89, f. 222, Nov. 14, 1667, N. S., the same to Louis XIV. 



122 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the popular Opinion here is opposite to this, but, when 
the Necessities of the Kingdom after such a War, and 
so faulty a Government as we are suppos'd to have 
liv'd under, shall go into the other Ballance, it is not 
likely to be long so, nor cannot be maintain'd but by the 
Parliaments giving his Majesty yet more money than 
they are either able or willing to do. The present game 
of France is to take off us [sic] from the help of Spain, 
by showing the likelihood of their making the Peace, by 
assuring Holland, that they shall have the Profit, and 
honour of making it : And yet, in the meantime, to pre- 
pare so vigorously for the next Years War, as if they 
never meant indeed to make the Peace. The Game of 
Holland is to effect it indeed, and in the meantime, 
Spain doth nothing to invite their neighbours to concurr 
in their Assistance, but by telling them, that they must 
oppose this growing greatness of France, because at 
last it will be prejudicial to them." "^ 

One may draw three inferences from this letter: 
first, that the Secretary was as distrustful of France 
as in the days of the Celehre Ambassade ; second, that 
England would not fight the battles of Spain unless that 
Crown paid the costs ; third, that failing this, a bargain 
might be struck with France for neutrality. Arlington 
was at this time trying to discover, through the English 
ambassador at Madrid, the highest terms at which 
Spain would buy the English alliance." 

^'^Arlington's Letters, II, 264, Oct. 31, 1667. To the Earl of Sandwich. 

12 " At the Receipt of this, I suppose your Excellency will think it fit, 
to acquaint the Queen, or the Ministers there at least, of his Majesty's 
Intentions to recall you speedily; and accordingly dispose them to put into 
your hands, their last offers of the Terms they will give and take from his 
Majesty, in a stricter Union betwixt the two Crownes ... In my last 
Letter to your Excellency by Mr Sheers, I took notice of the obscure 
Overtures, the Duke of Medina de las Torres had made to Mr. Godolphin, 
of the giving us free Ports in the Indies. Your Excellency knows, better 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 123 

While the impeachment of Clarendon hung fire, the 
Secretary's indifference to the French advances did not 
seem an insuperable obstacle to Ruvigny, who witnessed 
his fear of Parliament and his forced capitulation to 
Buckingham. " He is on a slippery path ", thought the 
am.bassador ^^ and turned, rather contemptuously, to woo 
the bolder spirits. 

First, there was the King, who, under Buckingham's 
influence, himself proposed terms of alliance: money, 
a share in Louis's future conquests in Flanders, and 
commercial privileges in France." But later he de- 
clared to Ruvigny that the best he could do would be to 
prevent England from assisting Spain, and even for 
this neutrality " advantages " must be shown "' — a state 
of mind evidently promoted by the Secretary of State. 
Then, there was the Duke of Buckingham, who burned 
to distinguish himself in a Continental war, and so pre- 
ferred an offensive alliance on either side rather than 
neutrality. But he esteemed the French alliance above 
that of Spain, and for this reason Ruvigny encouraged 
his application to foreign affairs. The Duke expected, 
however, that Louis would make England's participa- 
tion in his quarrel profitable to her, and hinted as 
broadly as Charles at a division of conquests."^^ But 

than I, how tempting such Propositions will be to this Nation, which is so 
fond of inlarging the Bounds of their Trade, and, accordingly, endeavour 
to bring with you, the utmost they will grant of that kind, with any other 
Particulars, you suppose may be inviting to his Majesty." {Arlington's 
Letters, II, 264-265, Oct. 17, 1667. To the Earl of Sandwich.) 

"Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 222, Nov. 14, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 

** Mignet, Negociations, II, 521-522, Oct. 17, 1667, N. S., the same to 
the same. 

"Arch. Aff, Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 217, Nov. 14, 1667, N. S., the same 
to the same. 

" " Le due de Bouquinquan est aussi contraire a cette neutralite et il 
m'a dit qu'il aimeroit mieux qu'on se joignit a I'Espagne que de laisser 
Votre Majeste dans le pouvoir de tout prendre, et d'imposer en suite a 



124 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Louis had no intention of inviting interference in 
Flanders, nor of buying neutrality, and so the matter 
rested for a space. England was accepted by both 
belligerent powers as mediator, the Dutch and the 
Swedes having already taken upon themselves the same 
pacific office. 

On the evening of November 25, while the contest 
over the commitment of Clarendon still raged between 
the two Houses, Ruvigny was surprised by a joint visit 
of the rivals, Buckingham and Arlington. They came 
by the King's order, explained the Secretary, for two 
purposes : first, to discuss the basis of a league between 
France and England ; second, to learn exactly the terms 
which Louis XIV had suggested to the Dutch media- 
tors as the foundation of a peace agreeable to him. 
Arlington begged courteously that the ambassador 
satisfy them first in this minor matter, after which they 
could freely proceed to the more important. Ruvigny, 
eager to hear what they had to say about an alliance, 
quickly rehearsed the conditions which Louis had of- 
fered to Spain in September : He would keep the con- 
quests he had made in the course of the summer, or 
Spain should cede to him a line of frontier towns in the 
Netherlands with the Duchy of Luxembourg or 
Franche-Comte. For the consideration of these terms 
Louis offered a suspension of arms lasting until the end 
of March, 1668. Hitherto Spain had made no move to 
avail herself of either the truce or the alternative con- 
ditions. 

When Ruvigny had ended his explanation, Bucking- 
ham rushed into the problem of the union, seeking to 

I'Angleterre telle loy quelle trouveroit bon de luy donner." (Arch. Aff. 
Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 209, Nov. 9, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV.) 
See also Mignet, Negociations, II, 525. Oct. 23, 1667, N. S., the same 
to the same. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 125 

discover what France would give for the alliance, and 
declaring that Louis must agree to abandon his efforts 
to strengthen the French marine, which could not fail 
to arouse jealousy in England. Arlington, who had 
listened to the Duke's harangue in silence, now inter- 
rupted him to say that the present state of England 
counseled peace rather than war. But Buckingham 
would not be checked : he was sure, he said, of public 
consent to a union with France and to participation in 
the war against Spain — provided England should find 
her account therein. Ruvigny assured him that the 
King of France would consider England's interest as 
his own, and, neither party being willing to proceed fur- 
ther than this overture just then, the Englishmen took 
their leave." 

Arlington was going about on crutches at this time, 
owing to injuries he had received by the overturning of 
his coach. Punctiliously intent on relieving the Duke 
of the tedium of waiting, he limped slightly in advance 
of Buckingham and the ambassador to the coach. Ru- 
vigny seized the moment to urge the Duke to hasten 
at once with his report of the interview to the King, lest 
Arlington's account prove prejudicial.^^ 

All this Ruvigny wrote to his master that night. 
Whether Buckingham or Aldington first reached the 
King with a version of the interview, it is interesting to 
note the minutes of it jotted down by Arlington the 
following day.^^ The major part is devoted to Ru- 
vigny's statement of the terms of a possible peace with 
Spain. There follows briefly the substance of the 

"Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 263, Dec. 5, 1667, N. S., "a XI 
heures du soir ", the same to the same. 

^^ Ibid., 89, f. 270, Dec. 6, 1667, N. S., the same to the same. 

"Foreign Entry Book, 176. " Teuesday 26" [Nov., 1667]. Minute 
in Arlington's hand (misplaced in volume). 



126 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

remainder of the conference, emphasis being placed on 
Buckingham's suggestion that France abandon her 
efforts to " affect a strength at sea ", and Ruvigny's 
reply, that he was sure his master would gratify the 
King of England on that score. Arlington's memo- 
randum closes with an entry made five days later ( for it 
is dated December i) in expectation of another inter- 
view with the French Ambassador : " Propositions for 
Monsieur de Ruvigny, will his master enter into a 
league offensive and defensive against Holland and con- 
tent himself e with the King our Masters nutrality as to 
Flanders? This later [latter?] to bee urged upon his 
demande of the Contrary." ^^ 

Such a proposal was startling in its irrelevancy, and 
Ruvigny was puzzled when he heard it the following 
day, December 2, from Buckingham and Arlington. He 
set it down far too easily as the caprice of a government 
that did not know its own mind, and though he did not 
admit the practicability of a league against the Dutch, 
he humored the English ministers by playing with the 
idea. The upshot of the conference was a paper which, 
all three men agreed, represented the substance of what 
had been said. Arlington drafted it, and Ruvigny made 
a copy to send to his master : " A league has been pro- 
posed, offensive and defensive, towards all and against 
all, and, it is explained, particularly against Holland, 
and as Monsieur de Ruvigny has represented that the 
King his master, having a treaty which binds him to the 
Dutch, could not break with them suddenly, the reply 
was made, that it would be as difficult to break suddenly 
with Spain, because of a treaty of commerce with the 
Spanish, which is very useful to England. Upon this, 
it was said that one must agree upon the time, the 

29 Foreign Entry Book, 176. " Decemb, i. Sunday." Minute in Arling- 
ton's hand. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 127 

means, and the measures which could be taken to arrive 
at the execution of this proposition, and to accompHsh 
it with safety." ''^ The noncommittal tone of this state- 
ment, which would leave the reader in uncertainty as to 
whether the league had been proposed by France or 
England, and the conclusion which intimated that the 
two kings would unite against the Dutch as soon as a 
decent lapse of time had allowed them to forget their 
present treaty obligations, made the paper a more dan- 
gerous weapon in Arlington's hands than Ruvigny ap- 
preciated. 

During the next three weeks the situation remained 
unchanged. It was out of the question for Louis to 
provoke a war with the Dutch while his hands were 
full with Spain, yet Arlington seemed immovably at- 
tached to that condition as the price of his master's 
abstinence from all part in the war for Flanders. Buck- 
ingham flitted from one idea to another, even suggest- 
ing that Ostend and Nieuport be conquered by Louis 
XIV and delivered to England in return for the latter's 
neutrality.''' 

Now that Clarendon had fled and Parliament was ad- 
journed, Arlington began to regain his power over the 
King, and, in consequence, his control of foreign affairs. 
His Spanish colors showed more boldly. In order to 
increase the popular antipathy to France, he took ad- 
vantage of Clarendon's choice of that country as a 
refuge by adroitly insinuating that Louis would in- 

21 Arlington's draft of the paper (in French) is in the Record Office, 
State Papers, France, 123, f. 290, Dec. 2, 1667; Ruvigny's copy, with his 
explanation of the circumstances, is in his letter of Dec. 12, N. S., to his 
master. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 89, f. 277.) 

22 Mignet, Negociations, II, 535-539, Dec. 23, 1667, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Louis XIV. 



128 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

trigue for the banished man's reinstatement/^ a sug- 
gestion which obHged the King to treat Clarendon with 
great severity. The French Secretary of State, 
Lionne, proposed that Ruvigny complain of Arlington 
to Charles II, but the Ambassador rejected this as im- 
prudent, " because this King has hitherto concealed 
nothing from him. ... I believe ", he added, " that there 
is no way of getting rid of this minister other than by 
decrying him naively to the King his master, and by 
requesting that he be never present at Council when 
French affairs are under consideration.""* A strange 
proposal, this, to exclude the chief Secretary of State 
from the discussion of the most important problem 
arising in his province ! " I ought to tell you ", con- 
tinued Ruvigny, " that he is for neutrality, and that he 
would sustain that proposal more boldly than he does, 
were it not for the Duke of Buckingham, who is a sort 
of pedagogue to him." ^^ 

So confident was Louis of the neutrality of England, 
that he did nothing to enhance the attractiveness of that 
role. On the twenty-first of December, Ruvigny com- 
municated to Arlington the project of a treaty drafted 
by Lionne, which with excessive ingenuity gave the 
whole profit of the alliance to France : Charles II was 
to enter into no new engagement with the Dutch while 
France was at war with Spain, but Louis XIV was not 
bound by a reciprocal obligation. If the Dutch should 
break with France, Charles was to assist the Most 
Christian King with forces to be agreed upon later. 
When the Dutch were subdued, their commercial em- 
pire was to be divided between the allies. As regards 

23 Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 89, f. 288, Dec. 16, 1667, N. S., the same 
to the same. 

^^Ibid., 89, f. 284, Dec. 15, 1667, N. S., the same to Lionne. 
25 Ibid. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 129 

the war in Flanders, England was to remain neutral, 
or, with an annual subsidy of 200,ocx) crowns from 
France, was to undertake the conquest of the Spanish 
West Indies. If Charles II would break with Spain on 
the European side of the Line and aid the King of 
France with men and ships, his Most Christian Majesty 
would " consider " attacking a port town in Flanders, 
which, when taken, should be handed over to England, 
as Dunkirk had been delivered to Cromwell.^^ 

Arlington saw at once that by this project Louis had 
defeated himself, and with great joy he laid it before 
the Committee of Foreign Affairs. Not even Buck- 
ingham — not even the Duke of York — not even the 
King — upheld it. Of the other members, Rupert and 
Albemarle were scarcely of the intellectual fibre requi- 
site to a grasp of foreign affairs, but for personal rea- 
sons they were inclined to follow Buckingham rather 
than Arlington. Robartes was one of the best-known 
of Buckingham's adherents. Morice was always jeal- 
ous of his brother Secretary and, that aside, would be 
apt to nod as Albemarle nodded. The Lord Keeper 
alone shared frankly Arlington's distrust of France. 
Yet not a man of the Committee raised his voice in 
favor of the French project, or saw in it anything but 
a slight to England." 

Ruvigny was slow to realize the impression he had 

26 Mignet, Negociations, II, 539-546, Jan. 4, 1668, N. S., Louis XIV to 
Ruvigny. A copy o£ the project in Arlington's hand (State Papers, 
France, 123, f. 319) is headed, " Monsieur de Ruvigny's project deliverd 
the 21 decemb. 67. Project de Ligue entre la France et I'Angleterre du 
4™e Jan. 68 ns." The confusion of dates is probably due to the fact that 
RuAdgny presented the project a few days in advance of the date which 
Lionne had set for its communication, 

27 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 32, Jan. 12, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Louis XIV. 



130 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

made. He noticed that the Duke of Buckingham no 
longer sought him out to talk about an Anglo-French 
alliance. He observed that the first two weeks of Janu- 
ary passed without a meeting of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, and though he scouted Arlington's ex- 
planation that the intermission was due to the illness of 
the Duke of Albemarle and the gout of the Lord Keeper, 
the true solution escaped him. " The real cause of the 
rarity of this assembly ", he wrote, " is the natural 
aversion which they have for business, and because they 
care very little about the course of events." ^^ He knew 
that Sir William Temple, envoy of Charles H at Brus- 
sels, had made a flying trip to England, returning as he 
came, via Holland, but it was not until ten days after 
his departure that he mentioned the fact to Lionne. 
He even added that Temple had been hurried away at 
the solicitation of Arlington, but the fact had no signifi- 
cance for him.^' He had seen Charles H and his min- 
isters in frequent conference with the Dutch ambassa- 
dors, with Lisola, and with Molina, but he was neither 
alarmed nor suspicious. He found the Dutchmen 
deliciously funny. " Surely ", he wrote, " they are 
bravely dressed, and their cocked hats, their cravats, 
their wide baldrics, their long swords, and, above all, 
the proud mien of Monsieur Meerman, provoke the 
raillery of this Court." '" 

In his enjoyment of the raillery, Ruvigny penetrated 
no further into the situation, and so was astounded to 
learn on January i6 that a treaty of alliance between 
England and the Dutch had been signed at the Hague 
three days before. 

28 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre 91, f. 48, Jan. 19, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 

^^ Ibid., 91, f. 59, Jan. 23, 1668, N. S., the same to Lionne. 

8" Ibid,, 89, f. 271, Dec. 6, 1667, N. S., the same to Louis XIV. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 131 

The negotiation which came to this cHmax had been 
going on in England by the side of that with Ruvigny. 
While Arlington was haggling over the value of neu- 
trality with the French ambassador, he was trying to 
plumb the depths of Meerman's instructions. " The 
Dutch Ambassadors here ", he wrote to Sandwich on 
November 28, " presse us very hard to make the Peace, 
wee object that wee know not enough the Mindes of 
the Parties to goe about it, they reply, if wee will joyne 
with them effectually in this work, wee must together 
threaten that Crowne that opposes it notoriously. Wee 
are now enquiring of the Ministers they have here what 
sentiments the kings their Masters have towards the 
Peace. Monsieur de Ruvigny hath told us his, and to- 
morrow wee goe to see the Spanish Ambassador and 
the Baron dTsola to know theirs." ^^ 

This explains Arlington's interest in the terms France 
would admit as acceptable when with Buckingham he 
called on Ruvigny the evening of November 25. On 
November 29 the Secretary saw Lisola and Molina, but 
could not extract the information he desired from 
them.^'' Lisola did not want peace ; he wanted a coali- 
tion that should force France back to the limits accorded 
her by the Peace of the Pyrenees. Molina could prom- 
ise neither the exclusive privileges of trade demanded 
by Arlington, nor money to equip the sixty men-of-war 
and arm the 12,000 men which he asked of Charles II 
for the defense of Flanders.^^ 

31 Carte MSS., 65, f. 587, Nov. 28, 1667, Arlington to Sandwich. 
(Copy.) 

32 See the memorandum by Arlington of the substance of a conference 
with Lisola and Molina, in which he tried in vain to discover on what 
terms Spain would make peace at this time, Foreign Entry Book, 176, 
Nov. 29, 1667. 

33 State Papers, France, 123, f. 297, Dec. 9, 1667. Account of a con- 
ference between the English ministers and the Count de Molina and the 
Baron de Lisola (French). 



132 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The following day Arlington again met the Dutch 
ambassadors and reported the result of his interviews 
with Ruvigny, Lisola, and Molina : " They seemed not 
much surpris'd at it ", runs the Secretary's memoran- 
dum, " but proceeded to make the proposition of his 
Majesty's joining his armes to theirs to oblige the 
Partys to a Peace, and, it being askd them what they 
meant by it : whether forcing France to surrender what 
they had taken, or making Spaigne content themselves 
with moderate conditions, they answered the first would 
bee a worke too longe and too costly, but the latter 
would bee easy in the state the affaires of Spaigne 
weare. To which it being answerd it would bee a 
hard thing for his Majesty to force his ally to sitt down 
with soe much losse unlesse hee shewd some disposition 
toward it, they only replyd it was not to force but 
oblige him fairly to it, that a Periode might bee put to 
a warre which was inconvenient to its neighbors . . . 
In conclusion, wee pressd them to answer how they un- 
derstood his Majesty's armes should bee joind to theirs, 
or where, what the allyes would doe. To which they 
answerd wee weare too particular and pressing in our 
questions, and that his Majesty ought to answer upon 
the fundamentall one before they could reply to these 
wee made them." ^^ 

Arlington had already realized that the Dutchmen 
were at the end of their instructions. On November 
25, the day of that interview with Ruvigny on the sub- 
ject of a union with France, when Buckingham had 
talked so loudly of war, instructions were drawn up in 
the Secretary of State's office summoning Sir William 

3* Foreign Entry Book, 176. Nov. 30, 1667. Minute in Arlington's 
hand of a conference with the Dutch ambassadors. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 133 

Temple to England. On his way he was to talk with 
De Witt at the Hague. " You shall plainly tell Mon- 
sieur de Witte the scope of our sending you to him 
is to be informed whether the States will really and 
effectively enter into a league offensive and defensive 
with us for the protection of the Spanish Netherlands. 
And if the interests of both Nations shall require it, 
even against France itself e." ^ 

In such an intricate maze of diplomacy, it is difficult 
to trace with certainty the real intentions of the Sec- 
retary of State. He was feeling his way with the 
greatest caution, knowing that a misstep in such a 
crisis would bring upon him the fate of the Earl of 
Clarendon. The possibility of an alliance with France 
was certainly in the King's mind, and was more or less 
seriously considered by several members of the Com- 
mittee of Foreign Affairs, as is shown by the fact that 
Temple's instructions were allowed to lie on Arlington's 
desk for two weeks after they were drafted. Ruvigny 
had his opportunity, but he came to shipwreck in trying 
to steer around the proposal of a league against the 
Dutch with which Arlington had complicated the nego- 
tiation. Nothing was more remote from the Secretary's 
plans than another war with the Dutch. On the other 
hand, the suggestion in the orders to Temple of a 
coalition against France may have been designed rather 

35 Courtenay, Memoirs of Sir William Temple, II, 381-382. The original 
draft of these instructions, in Williamson's hand, corrected by Arlington, 
is in the State Papers, Flanders, 27) f- 213. The transmission of these 
instructions was delayed two weeks after their drafting, while the Com- 
mittee of Foreign Affairs was awaiting the final offers from Ruvigny and 
from Lisola and Molina. They reached Temple on Dec. 15/25, and he 
arrived in London on the twenty-first or twenty-second of that month. 
(Courtenay, Memoirs of Sir William Temple, I, 142; Temple, Works, I, 
321, Jan. 28, 1668, N. S., Temple to Sir William Godolphin.) 



134 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

to draw out De Witt than because the Secretary deemed 
that the best poHcy. To Ormonde, with whom he was 
generally sincere, Arlington used a less warlike tone: 
"Wee are now in an idle time as to our domestique 
affaires which gives us more to intende our forraine 
ones. I pray God wee take such good measures in them 
as to bee quiet the next yeare at least, without which our 
domestique ones will bee much disordered." ^^ 

Temple finally received his instructions on December 
15, and acted upon them with joyful promptness, for 
the mission was one that he liked. He found De Witt 
still of opinion that the preservation of Flanders should 
be attempted first by the joint mediation of England 
and the Dutch with the belligerents ; if they should meet 
with failure in this, the allies must then declare war on 
the obstinate party until he should accept equitable 
terms of peace. As a basis for the peace, De Witt sug- 
gested the alternative terms proposed by Louis himself 
which Ruvigny had explained to Buckingham and Ar- 
lington at the latter's request. Though Spain had made 
no response to this offer, and the French King's sin- 
cerity in making it was open to suspicion, the Pension- 
ary's plan was to force Spain to accept one or the other 
alternative, and to oblige Louis to abide by his offer.*' 

Temple was convinced, and in the ardor of conviction 
hastened over to England to report to his friend and 
patron the Secretary of State. He arrived at the crucial 
moment when the Committee of Foreign Affairs was 
bristling with indignation over the French project of 
alliance, and therefore was willing to hear counter- 
proposals. Arlington and Bridgman entered heartily 

, 36 Carte MSS., 46, f. 583, Dec 31, 1667. 

37 Temple, Works, I, 311, Jan. 27, 1668, N. S., Temple to Sir Orlando 
Bridgman, Lord Keeper. 



THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 13S 

into De Witt's plan, the others agreed, and Temple was 
sent back to the Hague with power to treat/^ He had 
the King's permission to tell De Witt what had passed 
at the conference of December 2, when the league 
against the Dutch had been proposed, and to communi- 
cate the substance of that noncommittal statement 
which Ruvigny had so carelessly sanctioned.^^ It would 
suffice to destroy any lingering delusions the Pensionary 
might yet be cherishing as to the protective value of the 
French alliance, and this is probably the purpose Ar- 
lington had in mind when he drew up the paper. 

Temple began his negotiation on January 8, 1668, 
and in five days had concluded with the States General 
and Sweden the treaties which were to preserve the 
barrier of the Netherlands. The parties engaged to 
force the belligerents to peace on the basis of the 
alternative, and to defend one another in case of attack 
by reason of their joint action."" 

3^ Ruvigny believed, for his own comfort, that the resolution to conclude 
the league was known to the King and Arlington alone, although Charles 
assured him that it was decided at a meeting of the whole Committee. 
(Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 79, Feb. 2, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Lionne.) Temple's evidence, however, confirms the King's statement: 
" Upon all this, his Majesty came last night to a resolution of the greatest 
importance which has yet passed, I think, here in any foreign affair . . . 
in which the new Ministry, particularly my Lord Keeper and my Lord 
Arlington, have had a very great part." (.Temple, Works, I, 295, Jan. 2, 
1668, N. S. Temple to his father. Sir John Temple.) 

39 Temple used this permission to hurry through his negotiations with 
the States. In his report to Arlington he says that he told De Witt and 
Isbrandt " what had passed between your Lordship and Monsieur Ru- 
vigny three or four days after the date of my first instructions; upon 
which I told them frankly (as his Majesty gave me leave) what had passed 
in that affair. Monsieur de Witt asked me whether I could shew him the 
paper drawn up between you; and, knowing I had it not, desired earnestly 
I would procure it him, assuring me no use should be made of it, but by 
joint consent: but saying nothing would serve so far to justify them, in 
case of a breach growing necessary between them and France ". Ibid., I, 
300, Jan. 24, 1668, N. S. 

40 Ibid., I, 344-363- 



136 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

In England, the report of the Triple Alliance gave the 
new ministry its first claim to respect, and evoked a 
quick, surprised approval.*^ Ruvigny listened sourly 
enough to the rejoicings over his defeat. " The great 
applause which this new League first received has so 
tickled my Lord Arlington that he could not refrain 
from making known to his friends that he is the sole 
author, and his friends have published the fact, but 
perhaps he will repent of it soon, because people begin 
to seek the advantage which this union brings to Eng- 
land." " 

However tickled, the Secretary was by no means free 
of anxieties and misgivings. He had hastened through 
the treaties in the belief that they would have a con- 
ciliating effect upon Parliament when it should meet in 
February. Unless the Commons supported the league 
by a grant of money, the government would be dis- 
credited, the Alliance made ridiculous, and Louis XIV 
left free to pursue his conquests in Flanders. With 
this possibility haunting him, Arlington waited fear- 
fully for the Parliament men to come up to town.*^ 

'^ " It was certainly the masterpiece of King Charles's life, and, if he 
had stuck to it, it would have been both the strength and the glory of his 
reign. This disposed his people to be ready to forgive all that was passed 
and to renew their confidence in the King, which was much shaken by the 
whole conduct of the Dutch war." (Burnet, Own Time, I, 456.) Pepys 
thought the Triple Alliance " the first good act that hath been done a 
great while ". {Diary, Jan. 20, 1667/8,) 

*2 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 90, Feb. 9, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Lionne. 

43 " As neare as wee are to the Parlament, wee cannot yet judge any 
better of the complexun it will bee likely to have then when wee parted 
last with them. All wee can promise ourselves of their temper is founded 
in the late Treatys wee have made with Hollande which everybody tells us 
will bee acceptable to them. His Majesty will put them upon the support- 
ing them by a succour of five hundred thousand pounds at least; if they 
cheque at this, wee shall quickly see what wee may depende off from 
them." (Carte MSS., 46, f. 589, Jan. 28, 1667/8, Arlington to Ormonde.) 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Rivalry with Buckingham. 

On the tenth of February the House of Commons 
Hstened stolidly to the speech from the throne which 
set forth the program of the new ministry. There were 
but two important points : supply, to enable the King 
to sustain his part in the league by the equipment of a 
fleet, and a plan of comprehension which should unite 
all Protestant subjects/ But the Commons clung still 
to the ill-humor which Clarendon's escape had engen- 
dered, and refused to be dazzled by the merits of the 
Triple Alliance into making a hasty vote of supply. 
Once they had granted money for a war, and the Eng- 
lish fleet had been burned in port ; now money was be- 
ing demanded for a pretended, possible war, which no 
doubt would be spent in peaceful celebration by the 
Court. They called for the report of the committee ap- 
pointed the previous autumn to inquire into the mis- 
carriages of the war, and devoted themselves to that 
investigation, regardless of the needs of the Crown. 
Arlington was one of the first to receive their attention 
when the division of the fleet in 1666 was under dis- 
cussion. The poet, Andrew Marvell, attacked him 
savagely : " We have had Bristols and Cecils Secre- 
taries ", he told the House, " and by them knew the 
King of Spain's Junto, and letters of the Pope's cabinet ; 
and now such a strange account of things ! The money 
allowed for intelligence so small, the intelligence was 
accordingly. A libidinous desire in men, for places, 

* Cobbett, Parliamentary History, TV, col. 404. 



138 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

makes them think themselves fit for them — The place 
of Secretary ill-gotten when bought with 10,000 1. and a 
Barony." ^ But the Secretary's defenders were able to 
show that the two admirals, Rupert and Albemarle, 
had been informed of the rumor that the Dutch were 
out, in time to prevent the separation, had the report 
been credited. This brought the Commons to a vote 
which distributed the blame broadly among the minis- 
ters : " Resolved, That the not timely recalling the order 
for the division of the fleet, after the intelligence was 
given of the Dutch fleet coming out, was a miscar- 
riage." ^ 

The beloved inquiries went on, and with them the 
introduction of many bills hostile or humiliating to the 
Court. Arlington, seeing Louis XIV still hesitating 
to admit the terms of peace prescribed by the allies, 
became very despondent : " God Almighty sett all our 
heades right ", he exclaimed to Ormonde, " for there 
are few that are not verry giddy ! " * The giddiness 
subsided somewhat when at the end of February the 
Commons voted supply (though it was only £310,000 

2 Grey, Debates, Feb. 14, 1667/8. When it was insinuated that intelli- 
gence was better managed in worse hands, meaning Thurloe's, Morice 
defended his office by declaring that he had never been allowed more than 
seven hundred and fifty pounds a year for intelligence, whereas Cromwell 
had spent seventy thousand. (Ibid., Feb. 15, 1667/8.) If Morice spoke 
truly, then by far the major part of the intelligence money must have 
been spent by Arlington, for we learn that during the last year of South- 
ampton's treasurership, from Easter, 1666, to Easter, 1667, the Treasury 
paid out £24,145 for intelligence. (Cal. St. P., Dom., 1667-1668, p. 288.) 
This should not have been inadequate, even for a year of war. When the 
committee appointed by the Commons to take account of the money ex- 
pended for the war during the last year of its duration, reported to the 
House, Pepys records that " the first sum mentioned in the account 
brought in by Sir Robert Long, of the disposal of the Poll-bill money, is 
5,000 /. to my Lord Arlington for intelligence; which was mighty un- 
seasonable so soon after they had so much cried out against his want of 
intelligence". (Diary, Feb. 21, 1667/8.) 

3 Grey, Debates, Feb, 15, 1667/8. 

4 Carte MSS., 46, f. 600, Feb. 18, 1667/8. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 139 

instead of the £500,000 for which ArHngton had hoped) , 
but revived once more when, before it was decided on 
what funds the supply should be fixed, the Commons 
bethought themselves of the King's proposal for unit- 
ing Protestants, and set everything aside to provide for 
the security of the Church." Religious affairs, as the 
Secretary remarked mournfully, " though admirable 
good in their places, are ill companions of money mat- 
ters "/ The House was waiting to see whether Louis 
would choose peace or war before completing its gift ; 
Louis was observing the actions of the House with 
equal attention. In the middle of March peace seemed 
so precarious that the Commons reluctantly finished 
their grant, and the government was obliged to antici- 
pate it in order to make some preparation for war.^ 
The suspense came to an end in the first week of April, 
when Louis XIV accepted the alternative. This left 
the Commons free to continue their investigation of the 
mishaps of the Dutch War, but a quarrel with the 
Lords arose which put a stop to all business and brought 
about a prorogation May i. 

The Court had looked to Buckingham to quell the 
suspicions of Parliament, but his duel with the Earl of 
Shrewsbury, which had resulted in the latter's death, 
had cost the Duke much of his popularity. Moreover, 
it was reported he had boasted to the King that Parlia- 
ment was as wax in his hands to be moulded at will.* 
This report Buckingham declared to be the work of 
Arlington, who, he said, had betrayed him.^ Jealous of 

° Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 413-422. 
6 Carte MSS., 46, f. 612, March 14, 1667/8, Arlington to Ormonde. 
^ See Williamson's notes of the deliberations of the Committee of For- 
eign Affairs during March, 1668. Foreign Entry Book, 176. 

8 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 130, Feb. 23, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 

9 Ibid. 



140 THE EARL OP ARLINGTON 

the credit which the Secretary had won by the Triple 
AUiance, he had begun to intrigue with Ruvigny, and 
with Madame, the Duchess of Orleans, sister of Charles 
II, for the dissolution of the league before the ink was 
fairly dry on Temple's treaties." He seldom attended 
the Committee of Foreign Affairs now, and its respon- 
sibilities devolved entirely upon Arlington and Bridg- 
man. 

The opposition of Buckingham to Arlington's foreign 
policy was purely personal and inconsequential, but the 
Secretary must also reckon on resistance from the 
mercantile class in England. The Dutch War had been 
waged in their interest, and they could not now concur 
in any agreement with the States General that did not 
concede commercial supremacy to England. The Royal 
African and East India Companies, whose political in- 
fluence was great both at Court and in Parliament, 
demanded the support of the government in their quar- 
rels with the rival Dutch companies. A marine treaty 
was set on foot between the two nations to settle out- 
standing commercial differences, but the discussions to 
which it gave rise seemed to increase the antagonism 
and showed no symptoms of compromise. It was of 
this rivalry that Arlington's friend, Sir Thomas Clif- 
ford, was thinking when, amid the first rejoicing over 
the Triple Alliance, he remarked : " Well, for all this 
noise we must yet have another war with the Dutch, 
before it be long." " Temple believed this was also the 
opinion of the other Commissioners of the Treasury, 
who knew that the expansion of trade would mean in- 
creased receipts from customs duties, and the simplifica- 

" See Buckingham's letter to Madame of Feb. 17, 1667/8, in Dalrymple'a 
Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, Appendix, pp. 8-9. 

" Temple, Works, I, 434-438, July 22, 1668, N. S., Temple to his father. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 141 

tion of their task of stretching the revenue to cover ex- 
penditure. But in spite of the Commissioners' opinion, 
Temple was confident that while the Triple Alliance 
had the support of Arlington and the Lord Keeper, it 
would endure."^ 

The most variable factor with which Arlington had to 
deal was Charles II. The King was disappointed that 
the Triple Alliance had not been more profitable to him 
financially, and was already crying his wares to France. 
Ruvigny, recovered from the discomfiture into which 
the news from the Hague had plunged him, fell into 
fresh bewilderment over the sweet reasonableness with 
which Charles offered himself and England to any uses 
Louis might have for them." But the ambassador was 
a wiser man than he had been the winter before, and he 
had his master's orders to listen and say nothing." 
While Charles angled in vain, promised secrecy in vain, 
Ruvigny ventured to sound the Secretary of State, who 
had wrecked his plans once before. At the suggestion 
of a union with France, Arlington assured him in gen- 
eral terms of the esteem in which he held his Most 
Christian Majesty's alliance, but added as his humble 
personal opinion that '' the best way of making a good 
and sure alliance between his Majesty and the King his 
master, would be to complete the treaty of commerce 
begun long ago, which, being concluded to the satis- 
faction of the two states, would induce the English to 
unite with France; any other procedure would be like 
beginning a building with the roof. But he believed 
that France was far from the thought of such a union, 

" Ibid. 

^' Mignet, Negociations, III, 9-1 1; Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix, pp. 
9-11. 

"Mignet, Negociations, III, 10, May 5, 1668, N. S., Lionne to Ruvigny. 



142 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

since his Majesty ^' forbade his subjects' using the man- 
ufactures of the islands of Jersey and Guernsey." " 
The very familiarity of this line of argument gave 
Ruvigny a feeling of depression. 

Not only was this Arlington's personal opinion, but 
he contrived intermittently to make it the King's per- 
sonal opinion also. Never had the unreliability of 
Charles been more disheartening, from the French 
point of view, than in the summer of 1668. At times in 
his talks with Ruvigny he seemed eager to sign a treaty 
with France before he slept; on the next occasion his 
conversation would be modeled after the arguments of 
the Secretary of State." Yet he thoroughly resented the 
supposition which he knew was current at the French 
Court, that he was under Arlington's thumb,"^ and the 
Secretary, mindful of Clarendon's downfall, was no less 
anxious that such an impression should not get abroad : 
" Though my Lord ArHngton labors with all art im- 
aginable not to be thought Premier Ministre yet he is 
either so or a favorite, for he is the sole guide the King 
relyes upon ", is the opinion of the shrewd Lord Con- 
way." 

While the Secretary was occupied at home in cir- 
cumventing the King, the Duke of Buckingham, and the 

15 7. e., Louis XIV. 

"Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleteire, 91, f. 282, June 7, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Lionne. 

" Mignet, Negociations, III, 12, June 11, 1668, N. S., the same to the 
same; also pp. 14-18, July 8, 1668, N. S., Report of the Marquis de 
Ruvigny on his return to France. 

IS " One thing I desire you to take as much as you can out of the king 
of France' head, that my Ministers are any thing but what I will have 
them, and that they have no parciallity but to my interest and the good of 
England." (Cartwright, Madame, 268, July 8, 1668, Charles II to his 
sister, the Duchess of Orleans.) 

1^ State Papers, Domestic, Charles II, 235, f. 140, Feb., 1668, Lord Con- 
way to his brother-in-law, Sir J. Finch. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 143 

French ambassador, he was trying to strengthen the 
Triple AlHance abroad. France and Spain had reluc- 
tantly signed the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in April, 
but this, in the opinion of both Arlington and De Witt, 
by no means ended the work of the league : the peace 
must be guaranteed by England, the United Provinces, 
and Sweden ; if possible, by the Emperor, the German 
princes, and the Swiss cantbns. But the accomplish- 
ment of the Act of Guaranty proved extremely labori- 
ous, owing to the difficulties made by Spain over pay- 
ment of the subsidies promised to Sweden for her co- 
operation with the English and the Dutch. The latter 
powers declined to guarantee the Treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle until Sweden should be satisfied, and so mat- 
ters remained at a standstill. To remove this obstacle, 
to keep the Dutch assured of England's firmness in the 
alliance, and to forward negotiations with Germany, 
Arlington sent Temple, whose heart was in the work, 
back to the Hague as ambassador, not without some 
opposition to the appointment from the Commissioners 
of the Treasury, and probably from Buckingham.""" 

In August, 1668, the Marquis de Ruvigny was re- 
called, and Colbert de Croissy, brother of the Controller- 
General of Finances, was appointed ambassador of 
France at the Court of St. James. Nothing can testify 
more clearly to the respect in which Arlington's influ- 
ence was held in France than the instructions which 
Colbert carried with him. Buckingham, who believed 
that Louis XIV would be in despair without him, was 

2" After mentioning the opposition of the Commissioners of the 
Treasury, Temple says: " My Lord Arlington . . . takes part in it as a 
piece of envy or malice to himself as well as to me, from some who are 
spighted at all that has lately passed between us and Holland, and at 
persons who have been at the head of those counsels." (Temple, Works, 
I> 437, July 22, 1668. To Sir John Temple.) 



144 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

hardly mentioned, but to Arlington is dedicated page 
after page of the most painstaking analysis. He was 
la plus delicate piece a faire jouer in Colbert's prospec- 
tive negotiation. " If the affairs of England were in 
other hands than this Lord's (as, on the contrary, they 
all are by the great confidence which the King his mas- 
ter has in him, who exercises no secrecy or reserve in 
his regard), the close alliance between their Majesties 
towards all and against all would be very easy to treat, 
and would almost conclude itself. But it happens, un- 
fortunately for the good of the two states, that this 
minister is not only a good Spaniard, having conceived 
a strong affection for that country in a sojourn of sev- 
eral years at Madrid, and received divers favors there 
during the former misfortunes of the King, his master, 
but he is still more a good Dutchman, since he has mar- 
ried a Dutchwoman who has great influence over his 
mind. . . . 

" The King has to-day an interest so considerable in 
breaking the Triple Alliance which is being negotiated,"*^ 
and in detaching England from Holland, to unite the 
former with him against the latter, that, if my Lord 
Arlington could be induced to act sincerely in it in fa- 
vor of his Majesty, there is no recompense for this 
service that his Majesty would not esteem very well 
employed, even if it should be necessary to sacrifice 
100,000 crowns paid down, and a pension of 10,000 
crowns a year. The English nation is very mercenary, 
and the ministers of their kings have never scrupled 
to touch the money of France ; it is only to be feared of 
this one, that his aversion to this Crown and his en- 
gagements with Spain and Holland still form in him a 

21 This refers to the negotiation of the Act of Guaranty. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 145 

more predominant passion than that for the great profit 
which he might obtain in serving the King. Neverthe- 
less ... his Majesty desires that the Sieur Colbert make 
the trial. To this end three things must be done: the 
first, to make such a great offer that it overwhelms en- 
tirely his inclinations for Spain and Holland; the sec- 
ond, to relieve him of the shame of receiving a 
substantial gratification from the hand of a king other 
than his own, and whom he knows well, in his con- 
science, he has not invited to that ; and the third, to give 
him confidence that we are speaking sincerely, and that 
he need not fear we are mocking him or laying a trap." ^"^ 

There follow orders for the presentation of the bribe 
in a manner so delicate, so ingenious and respectable, 
that they are worthy of the experience of Louis XIV. 
Stripped of all its beauties, the offer amounted to this : 
on the day the ratifications of an offensive and defen- 
sive alliance between France and England are ex- 
changed, Arlington shall receive silver plate to the 
value of 100,000 crowns.^^ 

But in the interval that had elapsed between Ru- 
vigny's departure and Colbert's arrival, Arlington had 
managed to steady once again the shifting sands of 
Charles's nature. The ambassador was amazed at the 
coldness with which the King received him, so different 
from what he had been led to expect by Ruvigny's re- 
port. His first interview with Arlington was still more 
discouraging. The Secretary again thrust forward the 
unfinished treaty of commerce, and, with a confidence 
rarely displayed by him, told Colbert that before a 
league were made with France, one must be certain that 

22 Mignet, Negociations, III, 34-35, Aug. 2, 1668, N. S., Instructions to 
Charles Colbert, Marquis de Croissy. 

23 Ihid., 35-36. 



146 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

it would not prejudice the alliance with Holland, which 
England had a great interest in maintaining as a thing 
most glorious to the King and to the kingdom. As for 
himself, that had always been his opinion, and he would 
still persist in it when his master should ask his advice. 
England must have peace, and to this end she must keep 
in good faith the treaty of the Triple Alliance.^* When 
Colbert harped upon the glorious results for royal 
authority of a union with France, Arlington replied 
gravely that " nothing could secure or increase the 
authority of a King of England except the affection 
of his subjects, and the more he tried to sustain himself 
by foreign alliances, the sooner would he fall into pub- 
lic hatred and the disgrace which must follow ". He 
spoke, declared Colbert, " as ingenuously and frankly 
as if I had been as good a Spaniard as himself ".^'' 

Louis XIV was astounded at this frankness, and fur- 
ious at the warning he drew from it. " I certainly 
cannot complain of his sincerity ", said he. " An 
abler man would have concealed his sentiments a long 
time . . . but he did not wish — or did not know how — to 
keep me in doubt of his ill-will for a moment, or of the 
invincible aversion he feels to uniting the interests of 
the two kingdoms."^ Colbert received orders not to 
display his bribe as yet. In November, however, he 
was allowed to propose through an agent a " gratifica- 
tion " to Arlington's confidential secretary, Joseph Wil- 
liamson. But Williamson had assimilated some of his 
master's discretion, and declined the present, saying he 

2* Mignet, Negociations, III, 43, Aug. 20, 1668, N, S., Colbert to Louis 
XIV; also, Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 92, f. 56, Aug. 24, 1668, N. S., 
the same to Lionne. 

^^ Ihid., 92, f. 192-193, Nov. 26, 1668, N. S., the same to Louis XIV. 

26 Mignet, Negociations, III, 45, Aug. 27, 1668, N. S., Louis XIV to 
Colbert. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 147 

had too little credit to be of the slightest use in advanc- 
ing an alliance with France." 

To console him for the indifference of the Secretary 
of State, the ambassador had the assurances of Buck- 
ingham that by dark and devious ways he was strug- 
gling towards a league with France. Not caring to 
incur the notoriety of too frequent intercourse with the 
French ambassador, he used his satellite, Sir Ellis 
Leighton, as intermediary, and this man, who hoped 
something for himself from the graces of Louis XIV, 
proved more effervescent and extravagant than his 
master. He spoke in a slighting tone always of the 
Secretary of State, and confided to Colbert that the 
appearance of amity between the two ministers was 
entirely artificial, and that Buckingham was but await- 
ing a favorable opportunity to oust Arlington.^^ The 
Duke, indeed, had several intrigues on his hands be- 
sides that with France, and these, being nearer home, 
interested him more. He must have six weeks, he told 
Colbert in November, in which to expel Clarendon's 
adherents from the Council, and from such places as 
they still held."*^ A month later he demanded a year at 
least in which to break with the Dutch and prepare 
public opinion for the union with France.^" When the 
year 1668 came to an end without bringing England one 
step nearer the alliance so much desired by the French 
King, Louis made up his mind that the good- will of 
Buckingham would profit him nothing as long as 
Arlington remained in office.^^ The Secretary could 

"Arch. Aff, Etr., Angleterre, 92, f. 181, Nov. 19, 1668, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

'^ Ibid., 92, f. 228, Dec. 24, 1668, N. S., the same to the same. 

2^ Ibid., 92, f. 182, Nov. 19, 1668, N. S., the same to the same. 

^° Ibid., g2, f. 215-216, Dec. 17, 1668, N. S., the same to the same. 

31 Mignet, Negociations, III, 62-63, Dec. 26, 1668, N. S., Louis XIV to 
Colbert. 



148 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

have repeated in December what he had written to 
Temple in October: "You must . . . take from Mon- 
sieur de Witt, and the rest of your Commissioners, all 
suspicion of Tergiversation in Us, in our Union and 
Triple Alliance, or hanging toward France; wherein 
I can assure you with all confidence, there is not the 
least step made since you left us." "^ 

Arlington's faithfulness to the Dutch was commonly 
explained as the result of his wife's affection for the 
House of Orange, and the influence that she was be- 
lieved to possess over her husband." Details of the 
Secretary's domestic life are scarce indeed, but it seems 
to have passed in harmony strange and bourgeois to 
the society in which he moved. The birth of his 
daughter and only child in the summer of 1667 had 
warmed and strengthened the somewhat conventional 
regard which he was prepared to give his wife at the 
time of their marriage. Yet it is impossible to credit 
Lady Arlington with authority over her husband in 
matters of business. She could never be provoked into 
a discussion of foreign affairs, to all appearances knew 
nothing about them, was polite to all the world and 
confidential to no one. It is true that she regarded the 
Prince of Orange as the head of her house, but that 
committed Arlington to nothing. In maintaining the 
Triple Alliance he was acting contrary to the Prince's 
interests, for the alliance was the conception of De Witt 
and redounded to his credit, thereby strengthening the 

^^Arlington's Letters, I, 358, Oct. 23, 1668. 

^^ See Colbert's instructions, p. 144 of this biography. Buckingham 
explained to the ambassador that Arlington's tenderness for his wife was 
so great that he would never approve of a war with her country. (Arch. 
Aff, Etr., Anglcterre, 94, f. 171, May 2, 1669, N. S., Colbert to Louis 
XIV.) 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 149 

party in power which opposed the restoration of the 
House of Orang-e to its former honors.^* 

The mutual distrust of Buckingham and ArHngton 
was more evident in Court poHtics than in foreign af- 
fairs, particularly in the struggle each made to throw all 
available offices in the hands of his own friends. Arling- 
ton was undeniably the head of the diplomatic service. 
There was not a single representative of Charles II at 
any Court that did not owe his advancement to Arling- 
ton: Sir William Temple at the Hague, Sir William 
Godolphin at Madrid, Sir Robert Southwell at Lisbon, 
Sir John Trevor and Ralph Montagu at Paris, had all 
been appointed at his recommendation. In home ap- 
pointments the patronage was almost evenly divided. 
The Mastership of the Horse was purchased by Buck- 
ingham for himself from the Duke of Albemarle, 
though the place was coveted by Arlington's friend the 
Earl of Ossory. The Duke was able to prevent the 
admission of two of the Secretary's supporters. Lord 
Andover and Sir Thomas Lyttelton, to the Council.^^ 
But Arlington succeeded, after some delay, in effecting 
a bargain between Morice and Sir John Trevor for the 
other secretaryship of state.^*" Trevor was a sturdy 

^* In September, 1668, the Prince was admitted to the Estates of Zealand 
as first noble of the province. Arlington displayed the liveliest anxiety to 
convince De Witt that Charles II had no hand and no interest in the 
incident. {Arlington's Letters, I, 350, Sept. 14, 1668; ihid., 352, Sept, 18, 
1668, Arlington to Temple.) 

35 Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 91, f. 36, Jan. 12, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 

38 The Duke of York writes that " Buckingham and Arlington joined 
to bring in Trevor, a creature of theirs " (Macpherson, Original Papers, 
I, 41), but Ruvigny says that Buckingham tried to defeat the appointment 
of Trevor, and succeeded in delaying the change almost a year. (Arch. 
Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 35, Jan. 12, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis 
XIV.) As Trevor was a sincere advocate of Arlington's Dutch policy, it 
seems more probable that Ruvigny is right. 



ISO THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

defender of the Triple Alliance and his accession to the 
Committee of Foreign Affairs gave weight to the party 
of Arlington and Bridgman. 

The place most seriously contested was that of Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland, still held by the Secretary's old- 
est friend, the Duke of Ormonde. It is not likely that 
Buckingham ever contemplated forsaking the Court to 
govern Ireland in person, but he may have cherished a 
passing fancy for the title of Lord Lieutenant, an honor 
which would not be incompatible with the appointment 
of one of his friends as deputy to bear the actual bur- 
dens of government. An attack upon Ormonde for 
malversation of funds had been threatened before the 
last prorogation of Parliament " — unjustly enough, for 
although the revenue of Ireland had been shamefully 
plundered, it had not been by Ormonde's advice or en- 
couragement. Realizing that Buckingham would not 
be likely to await the next session in order to press the 
charge, but would try to obtain his dismissal from the 
King, Ormonde had come to England to fight his own 
battles in the spring of 1668. 

He found Charles wavering and Arlington torn be- 
tween his affection for his " Brother Ossory ", as he 
always called Ormonde's son, and his suspicion that 
the Lord Lieutenant would embrace any opportunity 
for procuring the recall of the Earl of Clarendon. 
When Ormonde reassured him on this point, the Secre- 
tary promised his best efforts to preserve him in the 
government of Ireland, in spite of the Duke of Buck- 
ingham.^^ This Ormonde wanted to believe in the 

"Carte MSS., 46, f. 610, March 7, 1667/8, Arlington to Ormonde; 
Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 91, f. 235, April 30, 1668, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Lionne. 

3s Carte, Life of Ormonde, Appendix, LXXX, June 30, 1668, Ormonde 
to Ossory. 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 151 

trying time that followed, but Arlington was so 
uncommunicative and the circumstances so perplexing 
that the Lord Lieutenant sometimes doubted whether 
he were really his friend after all/" The situation was 
complicated by the fact that an attack upon Ormonde 
could hardly fail to involve the Earl of Anglesey, for- 
merly Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. Anglesey cordially 
disliked the Secretary of State, and was disliked in 
return, which may have been the reason why the Duke 
of Buckingham professed a warm affection for him*" 
and was determined to keep him in the office he then 
held of Treasurer of the Navy. If the power of the 
two, ministers balanced nicely, both Ormonde and 
Anglesey might be saved — or the compromise might 
work the other way and both be lost. 

The struggle continued through the summer of 1668 
with increasing rancor on both sides. In July, when 
Arlington was at Bath, Buckingham won from the 
King the appointment of a commission to inquire into 
the Irish accounts.*^ In September he obtained an order 
stopping payment of money due Ormonde by the Ex- 
planatory Act, but Arlington was able to secure the 
reversal of the order.''" 

2* " I have not been able to keepe lookers on from beleeveing my lord 
Arlington to be lesse my frend then I am confident he is and will be 
found at last. I am not easyly brought to suspect, nor to think it reason- 
able to impose a methode to my frends in their proceeding concerning me. 
I have patience enough to see the event and cannot despaire to be enough 
considerable then to recompence good turnes with the like." (Ibid., 
LXXXII, Aug. 15, 1668, the same to the same.) 

40 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 92, f. 137, Oct. 15, 1668, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

^ " You may remember your Lordship told me your goeing to the Bath 
was sayd to be to avoid the difficulty of giveing your hand to something 
like this, or the inconvenience of endeavouring to prevent it." (Carte 
MSS., 51, f. 427, July 18, 1668, Ormonde to Arlington. Copy.) 

42 Carte, Life of Ormonde^ Appendix, LXXXIV, Sept. 26, 1668, Or- 
monde to Ossory. 



152 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Both ministers were now considering the probabiH- 
ties of the meeting of Parhament in November. 
Arlington, having unhappy memories of the last time 
the "multitude of counsellors" came together, feared 
for Ormonde — perhaps also for himself — and urged a 
prorogation to some distant date, or better still, a disso- 
lution.*^ Buckingham was clever enough to work upon 
his fears and opposed postponing the meeting. At the 
end of October, the beginings of an agreement ominous 
to Ormonde glimmered through the fray : Parliament 
was prorogued to October, 1669, and Anglesey was 
deprived of the treasurer ship of the navy, the charge 
being assigned to a commission of two. Sir Thomas 
Osborne, one of Buckingham's partisans, and Sir 
Thomas Lyttelton of Arlington's faction. It was re- 
ported that the Secretary of State drank the health of 
the new commissioners with every evidence of joy.'" 
December saw Buckingham and Arlington much to- 
gether, with all signs of understanding and good- 
fellowship.*" The Lord Lieutenant's friends shook 
their heads over this development, and were not sur- 
prised when in February, 1669, Ormonde was finally 
obliged to surrender the sword. It was generally re- 
ported and believed that the Secretary had abandoned 
his friend out of subservience to Buckingham, and the 
choice of the Duke's adherent. Lord Robartes, as 

43 Arch, Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 92, f. 228, Dec. 24, 1668, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV, 

^ Ibid., 92, f. 184, Nov. 19, 1668, N. S'., the same to the same. 

*" " Cependant je vois toutes les apparences possibles d'une parfaite 
reconciliation entre ce Due et Milord Arlington, et je les trouvay encore 
heir tous deux enfermez ensemble ..." (.Ibid., 92, f. 222, Dec. 20, 
1668, N. S., the same to i^ionne.) 



RIVALRY WITH BUCKINGHAM 153 

deputy, made this the most obvious conjecture."^ With 
much greater probabiHty, however, one can look upon 
the reconcihation with Buckingham and the with- 
drawal from Ormonde as parts of a far-reaching 
readjustment of the Secretary's personal relations and 
political aims which he was obliged to make early in 
the new year, for his own preservation. It was pres- 
sure from the King, not from Buckingham, however 
the latter may have flattered himself, that forced Ar- 
lington to yield. Something of the despondency with 
which he made this submission is apparent in a letter 
to Ossory written soon after the removal of the Earl's 
father. Speaking of Ormonde, the Secretary said: 
" The suspence of this matter so long, and, as it were, 
from day to day, has made mee a greater Stranger to 
him than I wish or ought to be to such persons, and so 
related to my lord of Ossory ; and I f eare this conclu- 
sion will put mee into a worse state with them than I 
deserve to be. But this must be a matter of time and 
length to justify mee in. I conjure you to keepe one 
care for mee when you have heard all tales, and to be- 
lieve I am, as I ought to be, most unfainedly and most 
faithfully yours." *^ 

*^ The Duke of York explains that Buckingham " sent Ralph Montague 
to Arlington, to let him know he would have nothing to do with him, 
unless that affair was done in a day or two. Arlington went immediately 
to the King; and it was declared the next day, February the fourteenth." 
(Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 51.) But a little later he declares 
" The ladies, Hervey and Trevor bullied Arlington to give up the duke of 
Ormonde; and got Roberts made lord lieutenant." {Ibid., I, 55.) Both 
of these stories were probably current at Court, but neither seems well 
founded. Montagu was always far more the ally of Arlington than of 
Buckingham, as was always his sister. Lady Harvey. And it is difficult to 
think of the Secretary as being bullied by ladies. 

4^ Carte MSS., 51, f- 433, Feb. 13, 1668/9. (Copy.) 



CHAPTER IX. 
The Treaty of Dover. 

When Sir John Trevor became Secretary of State, 
Dutch affairs were transferred to him, but the senior 
Secretary assured Temple that his interest in the latter' s 
negotiation would in no wise decline on this account. 
" Besides ", he wrote, " utrumque nostrum incredibili 
modo consentit astrum: and I am resolved never to 
leave you till I have made you able to make my own 
fortunes." ^ Yet at the moment of writing he had 
already deserted Temple and their stars were never 
more to shine in the same quarter of the political 
firmament. 

On the twenty-fifth of January, 1669, Charles II, in 
the presence of the Duke of York, Arlington, Lord 
Arundel of Wardour, and Sir Thomas Clifford, an- 
nounced his conversion to the Catholic faith, and 
discussed with them the possibility of recovering all 
England for that Church. Since such a project could 
not be accomplished without money, Charles and his 
confidants resolved to turn to France, the paymaster of 
Europe, for assistance in the holy cause.^ 

With the sincerity of Charles in his conversion we 
have properly no concern, save as his attitude influenced 
Arlington. Had the King been free to choose on what 

1 Temple, Works, II, 192, Jan. 19, 1668/9. 

2 Clarke, James II, I, 441-442. 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 155 

Church he would confer the responsibility of his salva- 
tion, no doubt he would have chosen that of Rome at 
any time in his career. But if one grants him thus 
much spiritual prompting, it is nevertheless difficult to 
believe that other considerations, more definite and 
more valuable, had not the greater share in his resolu- 
tion : the desire to rule in less limited sovereignty than 
his Protestant people seemed disposed to permit, and 
the conviction that for the conversion of England large 
sums of money would be forthcoming from France, 
and possibly from the Pope and Spain. 

Of the men whom the King honored with his confi- 
dence, two were Catholics, the Duke of York as yet in 
secret. Lord Arundel avowedly. Clififord, who had 
been hovering on the frontier of doubt, was swept 
across by the royal example. Of Arlington one cannot 
speak positively. In spite — or perhaps because — of the 
rumors that had been current ever since his return from 
Spain that he was at heart a Roman Catholic, he had 
pinned himself ecclesiastically to the Established 
Church, and would have done the same, no doubt, had 
that Church been Mohammedan. He was as uncon- 
cerned now about doctrine as in the days when he had 
been prospective parson of Harlington, and would have 
been glad to set religion aside as a bit of individual 
psychology, free from political entanglement. His 
soul had never been an assertive organ. But though 
he was by nature a tolerationist, he had not owned such 
principles since the failure of the Declaration of 1662, 
and occasionally, to remove suspicion from the govern- 
ment, enforced the persecuting acts with a severity that 
made him detested of the Catholics. But he loved per- 
secution no more than his master, and was glad to lay 



IS6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

it aside when political exigencies permitted/ When a 
debate arose in the Committee of Foreign Affairs touch- 
ing the advisability of a proclamation for the enforce- 
ment of laws against Dissenters, Arlington opposed it 
as resolutely as Buckingham, the acknowledged pro- 
tector of the " fanatics ", on the ground that it was 
imprudent to make the nonconformists desperate. 
" There is a wisdome in all Governments above Lawes ", 
he concludes owlishly/ 

The Secretary would have been indignant had any 
one accused him of unbelief, or of indifference in 
spiritual matters. " Few men so often upon their 
knees ", says Clarendon, " or so much desired to be 
thought a good Protestant by all the parties which pro- 
fessed that Faith, and could willingly comply with all of 
them, and yet took time of the Roman Catholics to be 
better informed." ^ If he had varied secretly from this 

" " He was believed a papist . . . Yet in the whole course of his 
ministry he seemed to have made it a maxim, that the king ought to shew 
no favour to popery, but that all his affairs would be spoiled if ever he 
turned that way, which made the papists become his mortal enemies, and 
accuse him as an apostate and the betrayer of their interests." (Burnet, 
Own Time, I, i8o.) The purely political nature of Arlington's point of 
view in religious matters is shown by two letters to Ormonde. The first 
was written apropos of the trial of some Irish Catholics: " I was verry glad 
to understande from your Grace how lucky the first poore -men weare in 
their triall before the Commissioners. I cannot but wish many more may 
meete the same, supposing them to bee for the most part verry Innocent 
papists — at least I am sure their proceedings for the most part shew them 
to bee soe if folly and Innocence bee the same." (Carte MSS., 221, f. 22, 
Jan. 24, 1662/3.) The other letter replied to one from Ormonde asking 
the King's leave to connive at the private practice of the Catholic religion 
in certain cases. The Secretary, after stating the King's consent, con- 
tinued: " I conclude there must either be a way found out of making them 
live comfortably to themselves, and with security to the Government, or, 
being such Numbers, they ought in Reason of State to be forced out of it, 
and the former end will I hope be attained by the way your Grace has 
now before you." (^Miscellanea Aulica, 403, May 26, 1666.) 

* Foreign Entry Book, 176, April 15, 1669. 

" Clarendon State Papers, III, Supplement, Ixxxii. 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 157 

open-mindedness in the direction of the Church of 
Rome, he did not admit it even to the King himself, and 
long afterwards he avowed to the French ambassador 
that he had never liked the " Grand Design " as Charles 
had christened the plan for the conversion of England.* 
It is probable that, instead of affording him religious 
gratification, the King's revelation gave the Secretary 
a purely mundane shock, since it meant the destruction 
of a policy in whose wisdom he believed, and which had 
brought him all the credit he had enjoyed as a minister. 
It was certain that Louis, Most Christian as he was, 
would not open his purse solely for the sake of convert- 
ing the heretic. His price would be that league 
against the Dutch for which Colbert had hitherto hinted 
in vain. The Triple Alliance had taught the French 
King who were his most constant and most unpurchas- 
abie opponents; with the patience that distinguished 
him he put aside his greater ambitions, and prepared to 
crush from his path Messieurs les marchands. The 
first step was to make sure of England, and England 
was now ready to be bought. No doubt Arlington 
tested the strength of his master's resolution before he 
yielded to the necessity of assisting him in it. The 
alternative of withdrawing entirely from affairs was 
impossible to a man of his strong ambition and easy 
principles. Charles, reading his old servant well, seems 
never to have doubted his compliance. 

sArcli. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, io8, f. 114, Nov. 20, 1673, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. Though Charles once drew upon his imagination so far as 
to say that the Duke of Buckingham inclined to Catholicism (ibid., gs, 
f. 182, Nov. 14, 1669, N. S.), he never made that statement about Arling- 
ton. It seems probable that had the Secretary been secretly a Catholic at 
this time, the King, in defending him to Madame, would have mentioned 
the fact. 



158 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

If Arlington had some premonition of the King's 
resolve before its formal communication on January 
25/ that would explain why, on December 27, he enter- 
tained the French ambassador at dinner, and took that 
opportunity to assure him that he had no affection 
either for Spain or for Holland, but, on the contrary, 
inclined to a good union with France/ Lord Crofts 
made a point of seeing Colbert at Whitehall on January 
20, in order to testify to the Secretary's enthusiasm for 
the French alliance.^ Lady Arlington made haste to 
second these advances by her amenities to the ambas- 
sador's wife." Colbert was lost in wonderment, especi- 
ally when, in February, the Secretary showed a disposi- 
tion to take up the treaty of commerce in good faith, 
making it, as he said, the approach to a league. " I 
found him very much changed ", wrote Colbert, " and 
I do not doubt that the affair of the Duke of Ormonde 
has affected him greatly." " Of the true extent of the 
Secretary's trouble at this time, the ambassador was 
ignorant. 

In view of all these circumstances, it is difficult to ac- 
cept Ormonde's removal as an effect of Buckingham's 
power. The King, who was momentarily in earnest in 

'^ On Dec. 2^, 1668, Charles, writing to his sister, speaks of his plan as 
being known but to himself and to " that one person more ". (Cartwright, 
Madame, 275.) This was evidently not the Duke of York, for on March 
22, 1669, the King wrote to Madame: " Before this comes to your hands, 
you will cleerly see upon what score 363 [the Duke of York] is come into 
the businesse ", which intimates that the Duke was not his original con- 
fidant. {Ibid., 284.) It might have been Arundel or Clifford, but is, I 
think, more likely to have been Arlington, since the change in foreign 
policy would have to be accomplished through him. 

8 Arch. Aff, £tr., Angleterre, 94, f. 5, Jan. 7, 1669, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV, 

" Ibid., 94, f. z^y Jan. 31, 1669, N. S., the same to the same. 

" Ibid. 

'^^ Ibid., 94, f. 102, Feb. 28, 1669, N. S., the same to the same. 



TBE TREATY OF DOVER 159 

his resolve of Catholicism, wanted a man less firmly 
attached to the Established Church in the government 
of Ireland, and Arlington, who had submitted to the 
whole plan, had not the spirit to contest this develop- 
ment of it."^ The reconciliation with Buckingham, 
which Ormonde's retirement completed, was probably a 
measure of protection. The Duke of York, finding the 
Secretary prepared to accept the Grand Design, rein- 
stated him in his friendship — an honor which Arlington 
had not enjoyed since the fall of Clarendon — and in- 
formed him of the correspondence which Buckingham 
was carrying on with Madame/^ Arlington, fearing, 
perhaps, lest his rival should so prejudice him in the 
opinion of the Duchess that he would be excluded en- 
tirely from the all-important negotiation with France, 
thought it wisdom to be friends. Therefore he set 
about distracting the Duke's attention from foreign 
affairs, and succeeded so admirably that Colbert was 
disgusted at the falling away of the one ally he had 
thus far found in the English Court. " T believe ", 
declared the ambassador, " that he does not show en- 
thusiasm for a union except when he is at odds with 
Arlington. But as the latter knows how to win him 

12 The King wrote to his sister in regard to this change : " I see you are 
misse informed if you thinke I trust my Lord of Ormonde lesse than I did. 
There are other considerations which made me send my Lord Robarts into 
Ireland, which are too long for a letter." (Cartwright, Madame, 282-283.) 
Lord Robartes, who was a Presbyterian, would naturally be, if not more 
tolerant, at least less insistent on conformity, than Ormonde. After a 
year Robartes was recalled, and Lord Berkeley was sent over in his place, 
and showed much favor to the Catholics. (See the account of Berkeley by 
J. M. Rigg in the Dictionary of National Biography.) The dismissal of 
Coventry at this time, March, 1669, from the Council and the Treasury 
Commission, on the pretext of a quarrel with Buckingham, was perhaps 
another instance of the change of personnel which Charles contemplated 
in regard to the ministry, but did not persist in. 

" Clarke, James II, I, 444-445. 



i6o THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

back easily by holding forth bright hopes, and by the 
pleasures which their good friend, Lady Harvey, knows 
how to furnish abundantly ... he escapes us when we 
believe him most engaged, and thus my Lord Arling- 
ton, who is the less clever of the two, does not fail, by 
application, to govern according to his inclinations and 
caprices." " 

Having thus diverted his rival, Arlington sought the 
favor of Madame, the Duchess of Orleans, for, know- 
ing how tenderly the King loved this sister, he could 
not doubt that her dislike would be very damaging to 
him. Charles himself undertook to convince her of his 
Secretary's fidelity ,^^ and Arlington wrote her a letter 
in June, 1669, in which he strove to make clear how 
entirely he had accommodated himself to the royal will : 

If Your Royal Highness complains of the general terms 
in which my letter is written, I have, with submission, much 
more reason to complain of the particular terms of yours ; and 
assuredly your correspondents in this Court must have given 
a false description of me to your Royal Highness, otherwise 
you would never have thought of treating me in this way. I 
have been all my life a good servant of the King, my master, 
and such I will die, by the grace of God, and I would not, for 
all the wealth of the world, act any other part than that of a 

"Arch. Afif. Etr., Angleterre, 94, f. 147, April 8, 1669, N. S., Colbert 
to Lionne. 

15 " I will answer for Arlington, that he will be as forward in that 
matter as I am, and farther assurance you cannot expect from an honest 
man in his post, nor ought you to trust him, if he should make any other 
professions then to be what his master is for." (Cartwright, Madame, 288, 
June 6, 1669, Charles to Madame.) Two weeks later, the Princess being 
apparently of the same opinion, the King wrote again, rather irritably: 
" And for Arlington I can say no more for him than I have already done, 
only that I thinke, being upon the place and observing every body as well 
as I can, I am the best judge of his fidelity to me, and what his inclina- 
tions are and, if I should be deceived in the opinion I have of them, I am 
sure I should smarte for it most." ilbid., 292, June 24, 1669, the same 
to the same.) 



TH}E TREATY OF DOVER i6i 

good Englishman. Moreover, the King will bear me witness, 
that in two or three remarkable conjunctures I have pleaded 
the part of France more earnestly than any of his ministers, 
but it was when I thought its friendship would be the most 
useful to him. I have done the same, in other cases, for Spain 
and Holland, when the same reason seemed to necessitate it, 
but always (thank God!) without expecting or receiving any 
benefit for myself. You now see, Madame, my temper, and if 
such a man can be agreeable to Your Royal Highness, I entreat 
you most humbly to accept me as your most humble and most 
obedient servant, who honours you with profound veneration, 
as being the beloved sister of my master, and also, as I firmly 
believe, the most accomplished Princess in the world. I might 
add to this my interest in serving Your Royal Highness well, 
knowing how much the King loves you, and how he prizes your 
affection. I conclude by reminding Your Royal Highness that 
His Majesty has been so good as to answer for me, and that 
thus all other cautions would be not only superfluous, but 
derogatory to the royal warrant which you have already re- 
ceived for me. 

Arlington." 

It was probably not this letter, which showed almost 
defiantly the Secretary's dislike of the new policy, that 
induced the Duchess of Orleans to accept Arlington's 
participation in making the league she so much de- 
sired, but rather her brother's evident determination to 
trust him with it. Thereafter she was careful to speak 
very kindly of the Secretary, who confirmed her good- 
will by persuading the King to make her a present of 
five hundred pounds." 

Charles, fearful that his secret would come unseason- 
ably to light, conducted the negotiations with France 
personally through his correspondence with Madame, 

" Ihid., 290. 

"Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, 43S, Aug. 26, 
1669, N. S., Ralph Montagu, ambassador to France, to his sister, Lady 
Harvey. 



i62 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

who in turn communicated with Louis XIV. The 
French ambassador, Colbert, was entirely unaware of 
what was going on until November, 1669, and until that 
time Arlington, too, had no active part in the negotia- 
tion, though he probably advised the King privately. 

In foreign affairs — particularly in those pertaining 
to the Triple Alliance — ^the Secretary had to flounder 
along as best he might, having to allow for the secret 
negotiation and yet conceal it. It was important to 
avoid all appearance of an understanding with France 
before the meeting of Parliament in October. On the 
other hand, Charles was averse to engaging himself 
further in the Triple Alliance ; therefore, to the despair 
of Temple, Arlington began on various pretexts to draw 
England away from the Dutch. The guaranty of the 
Treaty of Aix was signed by the three allies on April 
27/May 7, but the Secretary hung back from an 
agreement projected by Temple and De Witt which stip- 
ulated the forces each ally should furnish in case the 
Peace were violated, or one of the allies molested. 
With encouragement from the East India Company, 
he obstructed the marine treaty in process of negotia- 
tion with the Dutch, and cultivated a difference arising 
from the provisions of the Treaty of Breda with re- 
gard to the right of the English inhabitants of Surinam, 
until it developed unworthily into a quarrel. 

The autumn of 1669 brought Parliament together, 
and with it a fresh outbreak of hostilities between 
Buckingham and Arlington. The immediate cause was 
Buckingham's resentment of the Secretary's under- 
standing with the Duke of York, and the renewal of his 
friendship with Ormonde, in which Buckingham read 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 163 

the beginnings of a combination against himself/" " I 
could not well omit the condoling with you for the loss 
of my Lord Duke of Buckingham ", wrote Montagu 
from Paris. " I can only comfort you as the divines 
use to do for the loss of the good things of this world, 
which whilst we did enjoy, were so uncertain, that we 
ought never to have set our hearts much upon them." '" 
The history of the disagreement is succinctly told in a 
series of letters written by an onlooker : 

July 28. " Bucks and Arlington seem to be a little 
eclipsed and not as gracious as formerly." 

Sept. 20. " Bucks and Harlington cannot set their 
horses together. Arlington, as is muttered, sits very 
uneasy." 

Sept. 22. " Arlington sits fast still." 

Oct. 13. " Bucks and Arlington are still pecking one 
at the other." 

Nov. 10. " Bucks and ArHngton were made friends 
on Saturday last, and long it will last." 

Nov. 16. " Bucks and Arlington are broke out 
again ."^ 

To this account the addition of a few particulars is 
necessary. The King had done his best to patch up a 
peace, but the farce of a reconciliation to which he 
obliged them had no real effects. The quarrel practi- 
cally monopolized the attention of Parliament, for Buck- 
ingham used all his influence in the Commons to pro- 
mote an attack upon Arlington's friend. Sir George 
Carteret, who had been Treasurer of the Navy at the 
time of the Dutch War."* By way of reprisal, Arling- 

^ Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, 44i, Sept. 
28, 1669, the same to Arlington; also Clarke, James II, I, 436, 444- 

i» Hist, MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, 441. 

^^ Ibid., 7th Report, 487, MSS. of Sir H. Verney, Bart., extracts from 
letters of Sir John Verney to Sir R. Verney. 

21 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 97, f. 71, Feb. 3, 1670, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV. 



i64 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

ton joined the Duke of Ormonde in an attempt to im- 
peach the Earl of Orrery, who belonged to the Bucking- 
ham party and was Ormonde's inveterate enemy/" 
" Each party ", wrote Colbert, " professes to wish sin- 
cerely the satisfaction of the King, but rather than allow 
the opposing faction the advantage of having contrib- 
uted most towards it, would prefer to form all possible 
obstacles to what the King ardently desires." ^^ It was 
Buckingham, naturally, and not Arlington, who over- 
shot himself. Charles did not like the affectation of 
pity for the poor defrauded people of England with 
which the versatile Duke hounded on the prosecution 
of Carteret.^* He liked still less the rumor said to have 
been started by Buckingham, that i8oo,ooo of the 
money voted for the war could not be accounted for by 
Carteret and had been expended on the royal diversions."'' 
Deeply annoyed at so dangerous an interruption to the 
business of supply which was all he desired of Parlia- 
ment, Charles prorogued on December 1 1 to February 
14, 1670, thus cutting short proceedings against both 
Carteret and Orrery. 

Arlington's hands were now full with the French 
negotiations. The King's correspondence with Ma- 
dame had resulted in certain general conclusions 
accepted on both sides as the basis of a treaty : there was 
to be a war with the Dutch, undertaken jointly by the 
two kings ; Louis XIV was to assist Charles with sub- 
sidies to enable him to carry on the war, and was also 

22 Arlington was believed to be jealous of Orrery's credit with the King. 
(Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, 437-438, Sept. 6, 
1669, N. S., Montagu to Arlington.) 

23 Arch. AflF. £tr., Angleterre, 97, f. 19, Jan. 6, 1670, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV. 

^* Ibid., 97, f. 71, Feb. 3, 1670, N. S., the same to the same. 
25 Ibid. 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 165 

to give such aid, financial and military, as should be 
necessary to the fulfilment of the Grand Design of the 
conversion of England. At this point Charles con- 
sented to admit the French ambassador, Colbert, to 
the secret, and the negotiation was handed over to him 
and to Arlington. Colbert cheerfully put out of his 
mind all the suspicions and resentment that he had 
hitherto conceived of the Secretary, and the two 
set to work very amicably. But somehow the treaty 
did not seem to advance. Arlington made extravagant 
demands for his master's cooperation in the war,''^ and 
it was plain that he intended to insist upon the King's 
public declaration of his conversion preceding the 
breach with the Dutch, in which case, as Colbert saw, 
the latter would be subject to indefinite postponement, 
and might never take place at all.'^ He could not 
detect that Arlington was in the least stirred up against 
the Dutch, notwithstanding assurance from Charles 
himself that the Secretary, though married to a Dutch- 
woman, was eager to abate the pride and power of that 
nation.'' Probably Arlington still hoped that the dif- 
ficult arrangement would never be perfected, and that 
the King would yet revert to the policy of the Triple 
Alliance before any harm was done. He seemed not 
ill satisfied when the negotiation came to a halt over the 
amount of the subsidies, and even suggested to Col- 
bert that should Charles II be unable to join in the war 
against the Dutch, he would none the less expect the 

^ See the first project of the league, drafted by Arlington, and delivered 
to Colbert on Dec. 8, i66g. (Mignet, Nigociations, III, 1 17-123, Dec. 18, 
1669, N. S.) 

^■^ Ibid., Ill, 117, Dec. 5, 1669, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV. 

2SArch. Afif. fetr., Angleterre, 97, f. 62, Jan. 29, 1670, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 



i66 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

assistance of the King of France to the accomplishment 
of the Grand Design."' Colbert's anger over the audac- 
ity of this proposal disturbed him not at all. Confer- 
ence followed conference; the bargaining continued 
through the winter and spring of 1670, Louis XIV 
making many concessions only to have another thorny 
point or unreasonable demand raised against him. Per- 
haps the whole fabric of the treaty — Grand Design and 
all — would have vanished into thin air, had not a more 
artful diplomat than Colbert taken it in hand. 

Madame, the Duchess of Orleans, out of personal 
affection for the two kings, had long hoped to see the 
conclusion of the league between them. Louis XIV 
now played her as his trump card. In the latter part of 
April she came to Dover to pay her brother a long- 
promised visit. Charles, whose eagerness for the 
French alliance and for Catholicism had languished of 
late, was fired afresh by her enthusiasm; the last dif- 
ficulties were smoothed away, and the Treaty of 
Dover was signed on May 22/ June i . 

It engaged both kings to a war against the Dutch, 
and stipulated the forces each should provide, the naval 
command being left to England, while the disposition 
of the land forces was given to France. Of the con- 
quests to be made from the Dutch, England was to have 
the islands of Zeeland, and, while the war continued, 
Charles II was to receive three miUion francs a year. 
By a vague article Charles agreed to aid in making 
good any " new rights " upon the Spanish monarchy 
which should devolve on the King of France, but it was 
also stipulated that the treaties of the Triple Alliance 
and of Aix-la-Chapelle should not be violated. For 

29 Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 97, f. 67. 



TBE TREATY OF DOVER 167 

assistance in the Grand Design Louis promised to pay 
two million francs; it was agreed that Charles should 
declare his conversion before the kings joined their 
arms against the Dutch, but the choice of the moment 
proper for this announcement was left to him.'" 

This last point was disadvantageous to Louis, since 
it might easily be used to delay the war, but Madame 
brought her powers of persuasion to bear so effectively 
upon her brother that he promised to make war when- 
ever the King of France should be ready, even if the 
moment suitable for the declaration of his conversion 
had not yet arrived.^^ Madame also obtained the con- 
sent of Arlington and Clifford, who had conducted the 
treaty through its final stages, to this arrangement.^" 
But though the Secretary, noting her power over the 
King, yielded thus easily to her wishes, she was keen 
enough to perceive his real disinclination to the war,^^ 
and exerted herself to make his adherence to her for- 
eign policy valuable to him. She had brought with her 
a ring for Lady Arlington, the gift of the King of 
France, but Charles, fearful lest the jewel arouse sus- 
picion in some acute observer of the transactions at 
Dover, forbade her to offer it.^* In a matter much 

^^ The treaty is printed in full in the appendix to volume IX of Lin- 
gard's History of England^ S03-510. 

31 Clarke, James II, I, 449-450. 

32 Ihid. 

32 Charles, warming to the war, had expressed the wish that Turenne had 
accompanied Madame to England, as he would like to discuss with him 
the method of attack by the joint forces. Madame suggested to the ambas- 
sador Colbert, that Turenne be sent for on the pretext of conducting her 
home, but begged him not to mention the plan to Arlington — ^an incident 
which implies that she still distrusted his sincerity in the French alliance. 
(Mignet, Negociations, III, 186, May 30, 1670, N. S., Colbert to Louis 
XIV.) 

3* Arch. Aff, fetr., Angleterre, 97, f. 266, June 10, 1670, N. S., the same 
to the same. 



i68 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

nearer Arlington's heart she was entirely successful, 
for she obtained the King's consent to the betrothal of 
the Secretary's daughter, a baby of three years, to 
Henry Fitzroy, Charles's second son by the Countess of 
Castlemaine.*' Perceiving that the embers of the last 
quarrel between Buckingham and Arlington were still 
smouldering, she brought the two ministers together, 
and by her gentle authority made them assume the 
appearances of friendship once more.^® Buckingham 
had been of late in the shadow of his master's displeas- 
ure for his activities in Parliament against Carteret, 
but Madame was unwilling to leave behind her any 
ill feeling or disagreement that might upset her plans, 
so she made Buckingham's peace with the King," and 
kindled once more that nobleman's enthusiasm for an 
alliance with France, he being, of course, in entire 
ignorance of the treaty that had been signed under his 
very nose. 

The French ambassador showed himself less adept 
than Madame in his efforts to cultivate Arlington's 
affection for the French league. No sooner was the 
treaty signed than he confided to the Secretary that he 
saw with joy that nothing could longer restrain the 
King of France from demonstrating his recognition of 
Arlington's part in promoting the alliance, and that 
besides the present which was destined for him as one 

23 I believe it is to this that Montagu referred when he wrote to Arling- 
ton on June 21, N. S., congratulating him on " the honour Madame tells 
me the King intends you ". (Hist. MSS., Comm., MSS. of the Duke of 
Buccleuch, I, 474.) On her death-bed Madame spoke of Arlington to 
Montagu, saying: "... tell the King my Brother I hope he will for my 
sake, do for him what he promised. Car c'est un home qui I'ayme, et qui 
le sert bien." (Arlington's Letters, I, 444, July 15, 1670, Montagu to 
Arlington.) 

3« Clarke, James II, I, 451. 

" Ihid. 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 169 

of the signers of the treaty, the King wished to dis- 
tinguish him from the others by a particular mark of 
his esteem. And thereupon Colbert glided over the 
subject of a pension with winged words. But the Sec- 
retary replied soberly that, although he thanked the 
King of France for the honor intended him, and would 
apply for his protection if any reverse of fortune 
should oblige him to withdraw from England, he had 
never received presents from any prince except his own 
master, and begged in all humility that his Majesty 
would not think of conferring gifts either upon him- 
self or upon the other commissioners who had signed 
the treaty,^ since without the express order of Charles 
II they could not accept them.^'' Colbert was at first 
inclined to suspect the genuineness of this refusal, but 
when, in August, 1670, he proposed a pension of 10,000 
crowns a year, the Secretary again declined in almost 
the same words.*" Arlington was too cautious to touch 
the money of France, nor is it too much to say that a 
sense of honor — seventeenth-century honor that dictated 
discriminations not always appreciable to a later age — 
entered into this decision. It did not prevent him later 
from accepting, with his master's consent, presents of 
considerable intrinsic value which convention allowed 
to the plenipotentiaries who had signed treaties.*' And 

s^The other commissioners were: Lord Arundel of Wardour, Sir 
Thomas Clifford, and Richard Bellings. 

«9Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 97, f. 267, June 10, 1670, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

*^ Ibid., 98, f. 112, Aug. 25, 1670, N. S., the same to the same. 

*■• Presents for all the commissioners who had signed the Treaty of 
Dover reached Colbert in December. (,Ibid., 100, f. 15, Jan. i, 1671, N. S., 
the same to Lionne.) Although they were not in the form of money, Ar- 
lington declined to accept his, and was still declining at the end of October, 
1671. {Ibid., loi, f. 106, Nov. 9, 1671, N. S., the same to Louis XIV.) 
It seems to have been commuted, finally, to a pearl necklace for Lady 



I70 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

if Arlington declined pensions for himself he did not 
despise them as motive power for others, and did not 
hesitate to propose a pension for the Countess of 
Shrewsbury, Buckingham's mistress, as a method of 
making the Duke more pliable to the wishes of Louis 
XIV." 

Madame went back to France and to the sudden, 
tragic death that overtook her a fortnight after her 
return. The English Court returned to London, and 
Arlington fell to work again on the difficult task of 
destroying the Triple Alliance while he pretended to 
build it up. He had to restrain the eagerness of Tem- 
ple who, seeing the preparations for war begun in 
France, worked to cement the union between the Eng- 
lish and the Dutch in every way possible. He had to 
combat the suspicions of Van Beuningen, the Dutch 
ambassador — " a prying, talking, pressing man ", the 
Secretary describes him''^ — whom De Witt had sent 
over to persuade Charles to a closer league with the 
United Provinces.** He must endure the keener scru- 
tiny of the Prince of Orange who visited England in 
October and came every day with little ceremony to 

Arlington, which was at last accepted. {Ibid., 103, f. 185, April 11, 1672, 
N. S., the same to the same.) After the embassy of Buckingham and 
Arlington to the French camp in the summer of 1672, each of the ambas- 
sadors received from Louis XIV a jeweled snuff-box, and Arlington in 
addition a diamond ring. (Mignet, Negociations, IV, 49.) 

42 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 98, f. 119, Aug. 28, 1670, N. S., Colbert 
to Lionne. 

*3 Foreign Entry Book, 176, April 4, 1669. 

^ The innocent assurances of Bridgman and Trevor that England would 
abide by the Alliance to some extent blinded Van Beuningen to the real 
situation in England, but nevertheless the conduct of Arlington aroused 
his suspicions : " I cannot help remarking ", he wrote to De Witt, " that 
Arlington, who until now had appeared to me to remain steadfast in his 
favourable disposition, is seeking for quibbles, as if he were desirous to 
transfer his affections." (Lefevre-Pontalis, John de Witt, II, 52.) 



TIfE TREATY OF DOVER 171 

Goring House.*" He had to deny, with such feeble 
arguments as the circumstances permitted, the admis- 
sion of the Emperor to the Triple Alliance, for which 
Lisola was importuning him by letter/^ He had also to 
elude the envoy of the Duke of Lorraine, whose duchy 
was seized by Louis XIV in August, and who there- 
upon implored the protection of the Alliance.*^ In the 
Committee of Foreign Affairs the Lord Keeper Bridg- 
man. Secretary Trevor, and the Duke of Ormonde 
were still faithful to the old policy; to override them 
three new members were added to the Committee : the 
Duke of Lauderdale, who was content to accept any 

*" Colbert wrote afterwards of " la grande familiarite avec laquelle le 
Prince d'Orange vit chez luy, y mangeant tous les jours ". (Arch. Aff. 
Etr., Angleterre, loo, f. 74, Feb. 18, 1671, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV.) 

^ Lisola, who was now Leopold's agent at the Hague, had first proposed 
the admission of the Emperor to the Triple Alliance in 1669. (State 
Papers, Holland, 185, f. 91, Oct. 25, 1669, N. S., Lisola to Arlington.) 
Having received no reply, he wrote again in March, 1670, saying that 
Louis XIV was preparing for another war, this time against the Dutch, 
and that the inclusion of the Emperor in the Triple Alliance must be 
hastened. He inclosed the project of a treaty which he said was approved 
by De Witt and by the Swedish ambassador at the Hague, and asked that 
Arlington send a power to Temple to sign it. {Ibid., 186, f. 113, March 
14, 1670, N. S., the same to the same.) The Committee of Foreign Affairs 
discussed the matter on April 10, and the French party dominating, re- 
solved that orders should be sent to Temple not to enter into any nego- 
tiation for any prince's admission to the Alliance. (Foreign Entry Book, 
176, April 10, 1670.) During the latter half of 1670, Lisola bombarded 
Arlington with arguments and projects. (State Papers, Holland, 186, 
passim.) On November 18, Arlington finally replied that there was noth- 
ing to prevent his Imperial Majesty from guaranteeing the Treaty of 
Aix-la-Chapelle whenever he cared to do so, but he said nothing about a 
defensive league, which was the working basis of the Triple Alliance. 
{Ibid., 186, f. loi, Nov. 18, 1670. Copy.) It is not likely that Lisola 
needed further enlightenment as to what was to be expected from 
England. 

*' State Papers, France, 130, ff. 194, 196, Nov. 6, 1670, N. S., Charles 
of Lorraine to Charles II and to Arlington. Temple had already as- 
sured the Secretary that the Dutch were willing to act jointly with their 
allies in favor of the exiled Duke. (Temple, Works, II, 162, Sept. 2, 
1670, N. S., Temple to Arlington.) 



172 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

program which found favor in his master's eyes; and 
Clifford and Ashley, Commissioners of the Treasury, 
who were eager for another war with the Dutch. They 
did much to assist the Secretary in his task of keeping 
the Triple Alliance in a state of harmless inactivity 
while the two kings completed their preparations for 
the war. 

In September Temple was called home on the pre- 
tense of urgent need of his advice in the matter of 
Lorraine. His first interview with Arlington con- 
firmed all the fears that the equivocal conduct of the 
government had awakened in him : " When I came to 
town, I went immediately to my Lord Arlington, ac- 
cording to custom. Abd whereas upon my several 
journeys over in the late conjunctures, he had ever 
quitted all company to receive me, and did it always 
with open arms, and in the kindest manner that could 
be, he made me this last time stay an hour and half in 
an outward room before he came to me, while he was in 
private with my Lord Ashley. He received me with a 
coldness that I confess surprised me; and after a 
quarter of an hour's talk of my journey and his friends 
at the Hague, instead of telling me the occasion of my 
being sent for over, or anything else material, he 
called in Tata*^ that was in the next room, and after 
that my Lord Crofts, who came upon a common visit ; 
and in that company the rest of mine passed, till I 
found he had nothing more to say to me, and so went 
away." *' Poor Temple ! The personal slight made 
the treachery to the Alliance look even blacker. He 
could never like the Secretary of State again. 

*8 This was Arlington's pet name for his little daughter, Isabella. 
*3 Temple, Works, II, 173-175, Nov. 22, 1670, N. S., to Sir John 
Temple. 



THE TREATY OF DOVER 173 

Arlington was at this time unostentatiously guiding 
another tortuous negotiation with France. Only he 
and Clifford, of the English ministers, were aware of 
the existence of the Treaty of Dover, and, because of 
its frankness on the subject of the Grand Design, it 
could not well be communicated to Protestants like 
Buckingham and Ashley. To enable the King to avow 
the league, and to flatter Buckingham into believing 
that his was the leading role in European politics, he 
was allowed the glory of negotiating a treaty with 
France. It was begun by him alone when he went to 
Paris in August, 1670, to acknowledge on the part of 
Charles II the condolence of the French King upon the 
death of Madame. After his return Charles appointed 
four other commissioners to assist him in the sham 
negotiation with Colbert: Ashley, Arlington, Lauder- 
dale, and Clifford. Buckingham fancied that he was 
accomplishing the league in spite of the most strenuous 
opposition from Arlington but behind the scenes the 
Secretary, with the assistance of the ambassador and 
Clifford, shaped the new treaty to coincide with the 
earlier one. Only, the Grand Design was omitted, and 
the subsidy for that purpose was added to the amount 
destined for the war.'" 

With convincing gravity the Secretary played his 
part in the farce, dragging out the negotiation on one 
pretext or another until Buckingham suspected him of 
having received a bribe from the Dutch,"' while Lauder- 
dale in exasperation swore that the treaty should be 
finished in spite of Arlington, since neither Bucking- 

'"^ The exact nature of the sham treaty was decided before Bucking- 
ham's departure for France, by Colbert, Arlington, and Clifford. (Arch. 
Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 98, ff. 84-86, July 28, 1670, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV.) 

5^ Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix, pp. 69-76. 



174 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

ham, Ashley, nor himself had married a Dutchwoman, 
and therefore they were free to wish the prosperity of 
the King of France.^'' It required much time and much 
manipulation to bring the articles into agreement with 
the Treaty of Dover, but it was done at last, and on 
December 21, Buckingham triumphantly signed the 
new treaty, not dreaming that its every provision had 
been dictated by the man he seemed to have outwitted."' 

»2Arch. Aff. lEtr., Angleterre, 98, ff. 197-199, Oct. 23, 1670, N. S., 
Colbert to Louis XIV. 

53 The text of this sham treaty is printed in Mignet, Negociations, III, 
256-267. England's share of the expected conquests was slightly in- 
creased from what the Treaty of Dover stipulated. On the same day 
that the sham treaty was signed, Charles signed a declaration confirming 
the provisions of the earlier treaty in regard to the Grand Design, and 
promising to employ the subsidies as arranged in that agreement. This 
declaration was countersigned by Arlington. The other commissioners 
with the exception, perhaps, of Clifford, knew nothing of it. (Ibid.) 



CHAPTER X. 

The Cabal Ministry. 

While the commissioners were quarreling over the 
sham treaty, Parliament was engaged in providing 
supply for the maintenance of the Triple Alliance.' 
When the Houses adjourned for the Christmas holi- 
days, the Court could congratulate itself on a session of 
rare amiability. Unfortunately in this interval several 
incidents occurred which irritated the Commons on the 
dear point of their privileges.^ Also, it began to be 
noticed that although France was arming for some 
large undertaking, that fact seemed to be causing no 
uneasiness to the English ministers.^ The rumor of a 

* Bridgman, in his opening speech, had with entire sincerity exalted 
the noble results of the Triple Alliance, called attention to the French 
preparations, and asked for money that England might fulfil her respon- 
sibilities to the league as the Dutch were making ready to do. So flagrant 
was the contradiction in this speech to the actual design of the govern- 
ment, that Arlington vainly tried to prevent its being printed. (Marvell, 
Works, II, 335, Nov. i, 1670, Marvell to the mayor and aldermen of 
Kingston upon Hull.) Parliament, misled by the innocent Bridgman, 
promptly voted to supply the King proportionally to his occasions. (Cob- 
bett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 456-459.) 

2 Sir John Coventry, a member who had dared a contemptuous reference 
to the royal diversions, had been attacked on the street one night, and 
his nose had been slit. Also, an obvious attempt to manage a by-election 
in favor of the Court candidate, had been discovered. {Ibid., col. 460.) 

3 Colbert mentions the prevalence of this suspicion (Arch. AflF. Etr., 
Angleterre, 100, f. 147, April 13, 1671, N. S.), and it figures in some dog- 
gerel lines by Marvell written about this time under the title, " Farther 
Instructions to a Painter. 1670." 

" Change once again, and let the next afford 
The figure of a motley council-board 
At Arlington's, and round about it sat 
Gur mighty masters in a warm debate. 

Full bowls of lusty wine make them repeat, i 

To make them t'other council-board forget 
That while the King of France with powerful arms. 
Gives all his fearful neighbours strange alarms, 
We in our glorious bacchanals dispose 
The humbled fate of a plebean nose; " 

(Marvell, Works, I, 323.) 

175 



176 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

treaty with France was so circumstantially and per- 
sistently circulated, that the Duke of York and Arling- 
ton, knowing that Buckingham was given to "blab- 
bing " as Burnet says, accused him of revealing the 
secret.* " The bitterness is so great among those who 
share the secret ", wrote Colbert, " that is to say, be- 
tween the Duke of Buckingham and his friends, and 
my Lord Arlington and his, that they will have diffi- 
culty in preserving unity sufficient to carry through 
what they have resolved." ^ Lauderdale and Ashley 
could always be found in agreement with Buckingham, 
while the Duke of York and Clifford supported Arling- 
ton. So even a division naturally produced many a 
deadlock in the Committee of Foreign Affairs and com- 
plicated the interplay of faction in Parliament. Neither 
of the ministers was sorry to see his rival an object of 
suspicion to the Commons, but each was eager to 
establish his own innocence. Buckingham, careful of 
his popularity in the House, made haste to explain 
everywhere his aversion to a French alliance, declaring 
that if such perfidy had been, he was not a party to it, 
and that the good faith and well-being of England 
demanded that she abide by the Triple Alliance.*' He 
went so far as to say that such an accusation might 
more properly be preferred against the Secretary of 
State.' Arlington was not to be outdone in protesta- 
tions and, in order to make them with better grace, 
introduced in the Committee of Foreign Affairs a pro- 
ject for the inclusion of the Emperor in the Triple 

* Burnet, Own Time, I, 478; Arch. AflE. fetr., Angleterre, 100, f. 55. 
Feb. 2, 1671, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV. 

" Ihid., 100, f. 77, Feb. 18, 1671, N. S., the same to the same. 
6 Ihid., 100, f. 131, April 2, 1671, N. S., the same to the same. 
' Ihid., 100, f. 77, Feb. 18, 1671, N. S., the same to the same. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 177 

Alliance on the same basis with the original allies/ 
Colbert was horrified beyond measure at such back- 
sliding in the man on whom he most relied, and even 
the rejection of the project by the Committee, and 
Arlington's excuse that he had presented it purely for 
the sake of diverting suspicion from himself, hardly 
restored the ambassador's peace of mind.® He pro- 
posed to his master that a pension, augmented now to 
four thousand pounds a year, be once more offered to 
Arlington. " Whether it be accepted or not ", said 
Colbert sagely, " it will have a good effect." " 

An agitation begun in the House for the enforce- 
ment of the laws against popish recusants, afforded the 
Secretary a welcome pretext to adjourn indefinitely the 

^ The project for the Emperor's inclusion in the Triple Alliance was 
drawn up by Williamson according to orders given orally by Arlington 
and jotted down by the under-secretary on a paper which he indorsed: 
" The Emperor to be received into the Warranty. 1670/1. My Lord 
Arlington's first thoughts in order to the Instrument." (State Papers, 
Archives, 100, f. 635.) The following is Williamson's note as to the 
clause of mutual defense : " 3. and give him that V. Article of the Triple 
allyance for a Warranty towards one another." The instrument which 
Williamson prepared in consequence of these orders, and which Colbert 
saw, is also in the Record Office. (Ibid., ff. 649-657.) 

"Arch. Aff. fetr., Angleterre, 100, ff. 45-47, Jan. 25, 1671, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV; ibid., 100, ff. 52-55, Feb. 2, 1671, N. S., the same to the 
same. To satisfy Colbert, Charles called a meeting of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, the project was read, and the objectionable clause con- 
demned. (Foreign Entry Book, 176, Jan. 15, 1670/1.) A new draft was 
made omitting the provision for mutual defense, and this was sent to 
Lisola with a letter from Arlington, basing the omission on the impossi- 
bility of mutual assistance between the Emperor and Charles II, their 
estates being so remote one from the other. (The revised draft is in the 
Record Office, State Papers, Foreign, Archives, 100, f. 671.) Lisola was 
at this time acting in concert with De Witt rather than in harmony with 
orders from Vienna. In this year the Emperor was attracted into nego- 
tiations with France, and on Nov. i, 1671, N. S., he signed a treaty, by 
which he promised to remain neutral in any war between France and the 
United Provinces. (Mignet, Negociations, III, 548-552,) 

10 Arch. Aflt. Etr., Angleterre, 100, ff. 74-76, Feb. 18, 1671, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

13 



178 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

fulfilment of the Grand Design. For some time he had 
been ostensibly at work on instructions for the priest 
who was to arrange at Rome the reception of England 
into the bosom of the Church. These instructions he 
apparently constructed and demolished like the web of 
Penelope while he observed the temper of the House 
and the subsidence of such fervor as Charles may once 
have thought that he felt in the cause of Catholicism." 
When Colbert asked to know the date on which the 
King proposed to announce his conversion, Arlington 
replied Scripturally that " the heart of the King must 
be converted before his mouth shall declare it ", though 
he did not omit in this same interview to demand the 
second payment due for the Grand Design.'^'' He was 
perfectly aware that Louis would not forego the prac- 
tical advantages of the league out of religious dis- 
appointment. 

Delays in the completion of the money bills prolonged 
the session well into the spring of 167 1. Seeing the 
anti-French sentiment of the Lower House steadily 
increasing, Buckingham and Ashley showed a dis- 
position to fall in with it, and even endeavored to re- 
duce the duties provided by one of the bills of supply. 
This led to a quarrel between the two Houses over the 
right of the Lords to amend money bills. As Charles 
could not advance his plans for a breach with the Dutch 
while Parliament was in session, he was finally obliged 
to prorogue on April 22, although two of the bills of 

"See Colbert's letters on this subject: Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 98, 
f. 200, Oct. 23, 1670, N. S., Colbert to Lionne; ibid., 98, f. 222, Nov. 6, 
1670, N. S., the same to the same; ibid., 100, f. 39, Jan. 19, 1671, N. S., 
the same to the same. The priest to whom Charles seemed resolved to 
entrust this matter was the rector of the English college at St. Omer or 
Douai, and may have been Charles's illegitimate son, James de la Cloche. 

" Ibid., 100, ff. 81-84, Feb. 23, 1671, N. S., the same to the same. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 179 

supply were yet to pass. The loss of these grants was 
severely felt by the needy King, and he was very angry 
at the meddling of Buckingham and Ashley. The 
Secretary of State did not allow him to forget his just 
resentment." 

The vanishing of Parliament left Buckingham in 
eclipse. To strengthen himself in the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs he planned to have Bridgman removed 
and the seals given to his friend the Earl of Anglesey. 
" He enjoined me secrecy ", wrote Anglesey in his 
diary, " for the Lord Arlington, if it were known, 
would tell it as news to the King to disappoint it." " 
But it needed no effort of Arlington's to defeat this 
plan, for Bridgman still represented to the public eye 
the health of the Triple Alliance, and the moment for 
his removal had not come. 

In the summer of 167 1 Buckingham had the pleas- 
ure of vanquishing his rival in a contest for the chan- 
cellorship of the University of Cambridge,'^ but a grave 
political discomfiture which followed hard upon this 
victory left him small satisfaction in it. The Duke had 
set his heart on the command of the four thousand 
English troops which, by the treaty he had signed, 
were to be furnished to the land forces of Louis XIV. 
Now he learned that by the instances of Arlington and 

"The circumstances which occasioned this prorogation are far from 
certain. Buckingham told Colbert that it was resolved by the persuasion 
of Arlington, without his [Buckingham's] knowledge, and contrary to the 
King's assurance to him and to Ashley the day before. (Ibid., loo, f. 214, 
July 14, 1671, N. S., the same to Louis XIV.) Several months later 
Charles reminded Buckingham of the " millions he had been the cause 
of his losing in the last session of Parliament ". (Dalrjmaple, Memoirs, 
Appendix, p. 87.) See also Christie's Life of Shaftesbury, II, 27, and 
Cobbett's Parliamentary History, IV, col. 495-496. 

"Hist. MSS. Comm., 13th Report, part VI, 266, MSS. of Lieut.-Gen. 
Lyttleton-Annesley. 

*' Gardner, George Viliiers, 247-249. 



i8o THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Montagu the French King had been persuaded to 
forego the EngHsh contingent for the first year's cam- 
paign. Buckingham was convinced that the Secre- 
tary's sole intention in so acting was to preclude him 
from acquiring military fame. He burst out in angry 
expostulations to the King, but Charles reminded him 
coldly of the " millions " he had lost in the last session 
of Parliament through the Duke's demagogism, which 
made it impossible for him to support the expense of 
maintaining the troops; then, growing angry at the 
Duke's insolence, he added that when the latter's inter- 
est conflicted with the public welfare, he considered 
him no more than his dog. Finally, he said that he 
wanted all who had signed the treaty with France to 
act in harmony, and that if they did not he should know 
whence the trouble proceeded, and should banish the 
guilty parties from his confidence, admitting others who 
better deserved it. This warning he took occasion to 
repeat to Ashley and Lauderdale, whose mortification 
was not displeasing to York, Arlington, and Clifford.^' 
The Secretary had now leisure to perfect a very deli' 
cate bit of domestic diplomacy in which he was deeply 
interested, the installation of Louise de la Keroualle 
in his master's affections. " Madame Carwell ", as the 
English managed her difficult name, had been admired 
by Charles II when she came to Dover as one of the 
Duchess of Orleans's maids of honor. After the 
death of her mistress, she was preferred to a similar 
post in the household of the Queen of England, " and 
then ", as Burnet says, " lord Arlington took care of 
her "." All the flattery he had once paid to the Countess 

16 Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix, p. 88, Nov. g, 1671, N. S., Colbert to 
Lonis XIV. (Translated.) 
" Burnet, Own Time, I, 599. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY i8i 

of Castlemaine, all the good advice which Mistress 
Stewart had wisely flouted, he now offered to the 
French beauty who seemed to have the susceptible 
heart of the King in her keeping. He was most anx- 
ious to promote her fortunes in counterpoise to the 
influence of Buckingham's protegee, Nell Gwyn, and 
discussed the matter quite frankly with the French am- 
bassador. " My Lord Arlington told me recently ", 
reported Colbert, " that he was very glad to see the 
King his master attached to her, for although his 
Majesty is not disposed to communicate his affairs to 
women, nevertheless as they can on occasion injure 
those whom they hate, and in that way ruin many af- 
fairs, it was much better for all good servants of the 
King that he was attracted to her, whose humor is not 
mischievous, and who is a lady, rather than to come- 
diennes and the like, on whom no honest man could 
rely, by whose means the Duke of Buckingham was 
always trying to entice the King, in order to draw him 
away from all his Court and monopolize him . . . That 
the young lady must be counseled to manage well the 
good graces of the King, not to speak to him of af- 
fairs, and not to show any aversion to those who are 
near him, and, in short, to let him find only pleasure 
and joy in her company." He proceeded with the 
utmost candor to recommend to the young lady through 
Colbert the conduct which he and Lady Arlington 
thought advisable for her." 

In October, the French ambassador and his wife, 
accompanied by Mademoiselle de la Keroualle, came 
to visit Lord and Lady Arlington at Euston Hall in 

" Arch. Aff. ttr., Angleterre, loi, ff. 66-68, Oct. 8, 1671, N. S., Colbert 
to Pomponne. This passage is quoted in part in Forneron's Louise de 
Keroualle, 48. 



i82 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Suffolk, while the Court was at Newmarket only a few 
miles away. Charles divided his time between Euston 
and Newmarket, drawing with him always a throng 
of courtiers whom Arlington received and entertained 
with a splendor which the King himself had never 
equaled. " Came all the great men from Newmarket, 
and other parts both of Suffolk and Norfolk, to make 
their court, the whole house filled from one end to the 
other with lords, ladies, and gallants ; there was such a 
furnished table, as I had seldom seen, nor anything 
more splendid and free, so that for fifteen days there 
were entertained at least 200 people, and half as many 
horses, besides servants and guards, at infinite ex- 
pense."" The house-party lasted three weeks, and in 
that time Louise de la Keroualle confirmed her ascend- 
ancy over the King, as Arlington had meant that she 
should, but, in a larger sense, the scheme failed after 
all, for she never felt either gratitude or liking for the 
Secretary, and her coldness became more dangerous to 
him than the shrewishness of the Countess of Castle- 
maine or the mockery of Nell Gwyn. 

At the wish of Louis XIV, the outbreak of hostilities 
against the Dutch had been timed for the spring of 
1672, and so with deliberation during the winter of 
1671-1672 Arlington pursued the causes of quarrel 
that came to hand, for, as he explained to the Com- 
mittee of Foreign Affairs, " our businesse is to breake 
with them, and yet to lay the breach at their doore ".'" 
A third treaty with France, a replica of Buckingham's, 
was signed in February by the same commissioners, 
and was to be made public when war should be de- 

*3 Evelyn, Diary, Oct. i6, 1671. 

20 Foreign Entry Book, 177, March 8, 1671/2. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 183 

clared, to convince the world that no previous agree- 
ment was in existence."^^ It was not intended to open 
hostihties before April, but an accident initiated the 
war abruptly in March. 

The Committee had discussed on March 11 the ad- 
visability of hastening the declaration of war, in order 
to make prize of home-faring Dutch vessels. Lauder- 
dale, with his habitual indifiference to the practices of 
civilization, advised the King to " declare by action 
rather then words " until the fleet should be ready. 
But, it was objected, the Dutch ambassadors would be 
certain to demand by what order their ships were 
seized. What could be said to them if war had not 
been formally declared? Lauderdale saw no need of 
any explanation. " Nothing is yet caught ", he re- 
marked cannily. " Surprize 5 or 6 dayes and you will 
see whether the Prizes be worth it or not." Arlington 
thought notice of embargo or detention, at least, should 
be given the ambassadors, and the King and Ashley 
inclined rather uncertainly to this point of view, but 
Lauderdale, with the concurrence of the Duke of York 
and Prince Rupert, overruled them.^'' In pursuance of 
this policy, an English squadron under Sir Robert 
Holmes fell upon the Dutch Smyrna fleet as it passed 
through the Channel on its way home, but the mer- 
chantmen defended themselves so bravely that only 
two of their vessels were made prize. The shame and 
the failure of this engagement forced the Committee to 
publish a Declaration of War on March 17.^^ 

"^ Mignet, Negociations, III, 700-701. 

^ Foreign Entry Book, 177, March 11, 1671/2. 

23 " II ne fut pris qu'un ou deux vaisseaux mediocrement riches, et cette 
infraction, sans nuUe denonciation precedente, fut assez generalement 
improuvee." (Mavidal, Memoires du Marquis de Pomponne, 485.) 



i84 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

It is somewhat more difficult to determine Arling- 
ton's share of the responsibility for two other unpopular 
war measures. On January i, all payments from the 
Exchequer, due to various bankers who had advanced 
money to the government, were stopped for one year, 
and the funds thus seized, amounting to more than a 
million pounds, were used for the fleet. The resulting 
distress and excitement though severe were of brief 
duration, but the shock to the government's credit 
made itself felt through the remainder of this reign. 
The step had been proposed and urged by Clifford and 
Ashley; Arlington, though not bold enough to origin- 
ate the plan, did not condemn it, and when he was 
questioned in the House of Commons long afterwards, 
would only say that the ministers were united in that 
advice."^ 

The other war measure was the suspending of all 
penal laws in regard to religion. This was proposed 
in the Committee of Foreign Affairs as a means of 
keeping " fanatics " quiet while the government was 
occupied with the war, but to York and Clifford — pos- 
sibly to the King and Arlington, as well — it may have 
been looked upon as a step in the direction of Rome. 
Clifford spoke confidently of the repeal of the penal 
laws when Parliament should meet. He was the most 
enthusiastic, but Lauderdale, Ashley, and Buckingham 
seconded him warmly, and as if there could be no 
doubt of the prerogative in ecclesiastical matters. The 
King hung back a little, and expressed the fear that 
conventicles would increase if the toleration were not 

^ See p. 233 of this biography. For the responsibility of Ashley and 
Clifford, see Evelyn's Diary, March 12, 1671/2; Temple's Works, II, 184; 
Clarke's James II, I, 488. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 185 

limited : they should, he said, be tolerated and regulated 
" at one chopp ", but Clifford exclaimed against the 
delay that this complication would cause. The Secre- 
tary of State, in so far as we may judge from the 
minutes of the meeting, listened to the discussion and 
said not a word himself."' Whether he disliked the 
plan because it seemed a reversion to the Grand De- 
sign, or whether the fate of his Declaration of 1662 
was in his mind, he held his peace. Clifford triumphed, 
and the Declaration of Indulgence was published on 
March 15, two days before the Declaration of War. 
The dissenting sects hastened to avail themselves of it, 
but among orthodox Anglicans it seemed but a prelude 
to popery, and received gloomy significance from the 
fact that the Duke of York was now persistently ab- 
senting himself from communion. Their protests 
could avail nothing, however, before the next meeting 
of Parliament. 

The stop on the Exchequer, the Declaration of In- 
dulgence, the abandonment in effect, if not in theory, of 
the Triple Alliance, and the unwelcome league with 
France, brought the personnel of the ministry into 
unenviable prominence. The five men in whose hands 
the power now lay were popularly known as " the 
Cabal ", from the pleasing chance that their initials 
could be so arranged as to spell that word: Clifford, 
Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. The 
Lord Keeper, invalided by the gout, and aware of his 
exclusion from the King's confidence, ceased to attend 
the meetings of the all-powerful Committee of For- 

25 Williamson's notes of the debates in the Committee upon this subject 
are unusually full. As he was devoted to Arlington's interests at this 
time, I believe he would have recorded any remarks by the Secretary, had 
such been made. (Foreign Entry Book, 177, March 6 and 9, 1671/2.) 



i86 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

eign Affairs. Secretary Trevor died in May, and a 
successor was not immediately appointed. Ormonde 
was made a baron, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh ; Ashley 
tribution of honors in April pointed out unmistakably 
the men who now served the King's wishes. Clifford 
was made a Baron, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh ; Ashley 
became Earl of Shaftesbury; Lauderdale ascended to 
the rank of duke in the peerage of Scotland. Buck- 
ingham could not be further exalted as he already en- 
joyed the highest title it was possible for his master 
to bestow. Arlington's rewards were most extensive 
of all : he was created Viscount Thetf ord and Earl of 
Arlington,'* and in June he realized a long-cherished 
ambition in being installed Knight of the Garter."" 
August saw the marriage of his five-year-old daughter 
to the King's son, Henry Fitzroy, a boy of nine, the 
best-loved of the Countess of Castlemaine's children.'* 
Buckingham had exerted himself to break off the 
match, and had promised instead the hand of an heir- 
ess, the Earl of Northumberland's daughter, for young 
Harry. But Charles, thinking perhaps of his promise 

28 Cokayne, Complete Peerage, Arlington title. 

2f " Concerning my Self, I am sure you rejoice in all my good Fortune; 
I must not omit to tell you that His Majesty, the last Week, was pleased 
to Honour me with a blew Ribbon." (^Arlington's Letters, II, 375, June 
17, 1672, to Sir William Godolphin.) 

28 Colbert refers to him thus. (Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, Ap- 
pendix, xiii.) From a letter of the Earl of Sunderland, then ambassador 
to Spain, to Arlington, it seems probable that the Secretary had once 
thought of marrying his daughter to Sunderland's son and heir: "As for 
Tata ", wrote the ambassador, " she was alwayes too much in jest to be 
accused of Infidelity or Inconstancy, but if that matter had beene as 
serious as it was the Contrary, I hope your Lordship does not thinke me 
so voide of sence as not to know the difference betweene her gallants nor 
so little your servant as knowing it not to consent to her choice. But I 
ever said she was Coquette and that you will give me leave to doe a 
little longer." (State Papers, France, 134, f. 117, July 2, 1672.) 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 187 

to the sister he had loved, replied briefly that it was 
too late to change the arrangement already made.""* 

To a worldly courtier like the Secretary of State 
such a marriage was all that he had ever hoped for his 
daughter. He adored the vanities of life and his 
pride increased as he grew older. " That Lord ", 
Ormonde once remarked, " expects to be treated as if 
he had been born with a blue ribbon, and forgets 
Harry Bennet, that was but a very little gentleman." ^" 
The little Isabella was a " pretty babe " as even Buck- 
ingham admitted,^^ and Arlington loved her with a 
tender devotion which was the wonder and the jest of 
the Court. 

" For tho' to us he's stately like a king 
He'll joke and droll with her like anything." ^^ 

Yet even for her he was content with dross and show. 
Sir John Evelyn, who could see the boy's unpromising 
heritage as Arlington, infatuated by his nearness to 
royalty, could not, looked on sorrowfully at the cere- 
mony that bound the children to each other : " I was 
at the marriage of Lord Arlington's only daughter (a 
sweet child if ever there was any) to the Duke of 
Grafton, the King's natural son by the Duchess of 
Cleveland; the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating, 
the King and all the grandees being present. I had a 
favour given me by my Lady, but took no great joy at 
the thing for many reasons." ^ 

^ Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 6y. 
3<» Carte, Life of Ormonde, bk. VIII, par. 193. 
^ Buckingham, Works, II, 163. 
82 Ihid. 

^ Diary, Aug. i, 1672. Henry Fitzroy was Earl of Euston at this time 
and did not become Duke of Grafton until 1675. 



i88 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

From an English point of view the campaign of 1672 
was far from satisfactory in its results. To be sure, 
Louis XIV had conquered the better part of three 
provinces rapidly and easily, and at sea the allies had 
defeated the Dutch in the battle of Southwold Bay, 
but these successes were profitable to France alone; 
none of that part of the United Provinces allotted to 
England had been conquered, and it began to be 
doubted whether Louis XIV wished it to be conquered. 
Spain, seeing the trend of events more clearly now 
than in 1667, was lending her forces in Flanders to 
garrison Dutch towns, and this deeply alarmed the 
Cabal, who knew that if the French alliance drew them 
into a breach with Spain, the war would become too 
unpopular to continue and they themselves would be 
"travelers to Montpelier", as Shaftesbury once said 
in allusion to the refuge of Clarendon.'* 

Most serious of all, the Exchequer was empty, and 
the ministers did not know where to look for money, 
it being inexpedient to call upon Parliament until the 
success of the war had been clearly demonstrated. 
Ajrlington in desperation turned over the Grand De- 
sign, hoping to extract some pecuniary profit from its 
revival. By his advice Charles communicated his in- 
tention to bring England back to Catholicism to the 
Queen of Spain, but, bigot as she was, her reply af- 
forded no encouragement to expect subsidies.^" Then 
Arlington, with much tactful circumlocution, ap- 
proached Colbert : he suggested that an " able doctor 
of theology thoroughly acquainted with ecclesiastical 
history, the Councils and the Fathers " be sent over 

^* Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, 47. 

85 Arch. Aflf. Etr., Angleterre, 103, f. 138, March 14, 1672, N. S., Col- 
bert to Louis XIV. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 189 

from France to satisfy the King's thirst for informa- 
tion on such matters, and to advise him about the con- 
version of his subjects.^® Charles assured the ambassa- 
dor that in a few days he would send a priest to Rome 
to take counsel with the Pope touching the spiritual 
welfare of England/^ The situation being relieved, by 
this preface, of all mercenary taint, the Secretary im- 
pressed upon Colbert that since it would not be prudent 
to call upon Parliament for help, the King must have 
money from the Holy See, or from the clergy of 
France.^ He did not add " or from the King of 
France ", but Colbert understood him perfectly, and, 
to avoid the embarrassment of a more explicit demand, 
suggested that Charles could obtain money by the sale 
of Tangier, which he had obtained from Portugal with 
the hand of Catharine of Braganza. But Arlington 
remembered too well the odium heaped upon Claren- 
don for the sale of Dunkirk, to welcome this proposal/^ 
Things were at this pass when, on June 10, two depu- 
ties arrived from the Dutch to discuss terms of peace, 
and at the same time the ministers heard that the King 
of France was already talking over conditions with 

^^ Ibid., 103, f. 146, March 21, 1672, N. S., the same to the same. 
Louis complied by sending an Italian abbot, Balati (ibid., 103, f. 186, 
April II, 1672, N. S., the same to Lionne) who does not appear to have 
gained the confidence o£ the King, but we learn that " Abbot Balletti lived 
four years in the house with Lord Arlington, and lives now [1676] 
in the city." (Hist, MSS. Comm., nth Report, part VII, p. 17, MSS. 
of the Duke of Leeds.) Evidently Arlington felt responsible for him, but 
it is odd that if the abbot actually lived in his house, the fact was not 
known and used when the Secretary's enemies in the House of Commons 
were seeking material of that very sort to justify an impeachment. His 
intimacy with Father Patrick, the Queen's almoner, was severely noticed, 
but no one knew of Balati. (Grey, Debates, Jan. 16-20, 1673/4.) 

s^Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 103, f. 213, May 9, 1672, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

3s Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, Appendix II, pp. xii-xx, June 7, 
1672, N. S., the same to the same. (Translated.) 

SB Ibid. 



190 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

other deputies whom the States General had sent to his 
camp.*" The Cabal was startled at the thought that 
even then Louis might be concluding a peace which 
would leave England in the lurch. Buckingham, who 
had cooled towards the French Alliance as his rival 
had warmed, advised treating with the deputies, or, as 
he said, " aske them what they will doe for us ". But 
the King silenced him sharply : " No, by no means ! 
Aske no such question. Onely aske what have they 
to say to us." Arlington, who was never rash either 
to trust or to distrust, took a middle ground : it would 
do no harm to keep the deputies in England until it was 
known whether the King of France was thinking of 
peace.*" Accordingly, Viscount Halifax was hastened 
away to the French camp to hold Louis to his treaty, 
and the Dutch deputies were kept in strict seclusion at 
Hampton Court to await his return.*^ But, it happened, 

** Sidney Godolphin, Charles's agent in the French camp, reported the 
arrival of the Dutch deputies sent to Louis XIV, and expressed some 
doubt of the good faith of France. (State Papers, France, 134, f, 75, 
June 2z, 1672, N. S., Sidney Godolphin to Arlington; ibid., 134, f. 94, 
June 26, 1672, N. S., the same to the same.) 

^ Foreign Entry Book, 177, June 13 and 16, 1672. 

■*2 Not so strict, however, but that Buckingham managed to communicate 
with them. He tried to extract from them proposals for peace, and a 
paper came mysteriously into being setting forth certain conditions as the 
basis of a treaty. There is a copy of it in Williamson's hand, undated, 
bearing the indorsement: " My Lord Duke of Buckingham's paper (as it 
is called) i. e. which was pretended to be sent from the States' Deputyes 
at London to his Grace by Mr. Howard." (State Papers, Archives, 10 1, 
f. 27.) The paper was disavowed by both the Duke and the Dutch 
deputies, and Buckingham's agent, William Howard, afterwards Lord 
Howard of Escrick. admitted that it had been drawn up by himself with the 
connivance of Kingscot, the secretary of the deputies. But Howard's 
confession intimates that the substance of the proposals came from Buck- 
ingham, which is highly probable as they allowed all the demands the 
English were prepared to make. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 104, ff. 
14-15, July 3, 1672, N. S., Colbert to Pomponne; ibid., f. 25, Declaration 
de Mr. Howard . . . de tout ce qui s'est passe entre moy et les deput6z 
d'HoUande qui sont a Hamtoncourt.) 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 191 

only a few days after the departure of Halifax, Colbert 
received a despatch from his master in which it was 
proposed that the King of England send some one to 
the French camp empowered to treat for peace. Buck- 
ingham, who had found no chance to distinguish him- 
self in the war and now longed to win credit by making 
the peace, at once urged and obtained his own appoint- 
ment as plenipotentiary for this mission. His annoy- 
ance was great when he learned that Arlington, fearing 
to hazard this important negotiation in the Duke's 
hands and jealously guarding his own supremacy in 
foreign affairs, had engaged the King to join him with 
Buckingham, though his departure left England with- 
out a Secretary of State."^ 

Many were the hints that Colbert hurried off to his 
master on the handling of the rival plenipotentiaries. 
Buckingham's disaffection for France, he advised, must 
be cured by a gift of money and a show of complete 
confidence from Louis XIV, who should not make too 
much of Arlington in his presence. " It will be diffi- 
cult enough to content both of them, for although in 
appearance they are amicable, at bottom they hate each 
other bitterly, and the Duke of Buckingham will be very 
jealous of the caresses which the King may bestow on 
my Lord Arlington.""^ But, the latter would be sure 
to know the real intentions of Charles II in regard to 
a peace, and therefore should be interviewed separately. 
" The King of England, in sending my Lord Arlington 
to the King our master, sends, if one may be permitted 
to say it, an other self, for this minister knows his 
most secret intentions and designs and possesses his 
confidence, his esteem and his friendship in the highest 

^^Ibid., 103, £. 27s, June 30, 1672, N, S., Colbert to Louis XIV. 
^ Ibid., f. 278, June 30, 1672, N. S., the same to Pomponne. 



192 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

degree that a good subject could desire . . . You have 
in his person the law and the prophets of England; 
he has more honor and merit than any one else I have 
met in this country, and his credit is established on 
almost as solid foundations as the Crown itself/"^ 
From this eulogy it is plain that whatever doubts of the 
Secretary's sincerity in the French alliance Colbert 
may once have entertained, he was certain of his allegi- 
ance now. 

The instructions that the ambassadors carried with 
them looked rather to the continuation of the war than 
to peace, for even in the present straits of the govern- 
ment, the ministers dared not consider terms that would 
not justify the war in public opinion; therefore their 
demands were as high as if they as well as Louis XIV 
had an army in the heart of the Provinces. All Dutch 
vessels must honor the English flag by striking their 
own and lowering their topsails. The States General 
must pay the King a yearly tribute for the right to fish 
off the coasts of England and Scotland, and must also 
pay a sum of money for the expenses of the war. 
Three or four towns, as Flushing, Sluys, and Brill or 
some other, must be ceded to England in full sov- 
ereignty. The Prince of Orange and his heirs male 
must be created Princes of Holland, or at least restored 
to the stadholderate. The East India trade must be 
regulated along the lines desired by England, and the 
rights claimed for English subjects in Surinam ac- 
corded. In a final conference before the ambassadors' 
departure, it was decided that if neither these terms nor 

« Foreign Entry Book, ff. 280-282. The latter part of this letter to 
Pomponne is quoted in Christie's Life of Shaftesbury, II, 85. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 193 

those stipulated in the treaty with France were ob- 
tainable, then the war must go on.*^ 

The plenipotentiaries landed at Maeslandsluys on 
June 23, and there learned that the Louvestein party, of 
which De Witt was the head, had fallen from power, 
and the Prince of Orange was now Stadholder of the 
United Provinces. The inhabitants of Maeslandsluys 
were celebrating this occasion, and the arrival of the 
ambassadors, who, they thought, were bringing peace, 
completed their joy. " The towne was all drunke ", 
wrote Arlington to Clifford, who was performing the 
duties of Secretary of State in his absence, '' and 
saluted us with the complement : God blesse the King 
of England, God blesse the Prince of Orange and God 
confound the States ! " ^'' 

The inflammable Buckingham was in transports of 
delight over this revolution and the enthusiasm with 
which his presence was hailed. Of Maeslandsluys he 
said: "If that place had been worth keeping, wee 
might certainely have maintained it ", and of Brill : " I 
believe I might have taken that Towne my self e." His 
imagination pictured the abased States General accept- 
ing thankfully any conditions of peace the King of 
England might impose, and he concluded his report to 
Clifford by saying : " If the Prince of Orange could be 
perswaded to send in the Dutch Fleete to the Duke,*^ 
and deliver up some Townes into our hands, it would 
be in my opinion not only the best way for us, but also 

^ This conference, at which the King, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, 
Buckingham, and Arlington were present, took place on the Duke's flag- 
ship, the Prince, lying at the Nore. (Foreign Entry Book, 177, June 22, 
1672.) 

4f State Papers, Holland, 189, f. 206, June 25/July 5, 1672. 

48 J. e., of York. 

14 



194 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the surest for him to finde his accownt in this busi- 
nesses' "^ 

At the Hague the ambassadors learned that the States 
had put the negotiation of peace with both kings in the 
hands of the Prince of Orange, who was then with the 
Dutch army ; therefore they remained but one night in 
the town, and the next morning proceeded to his camp 
on the Old Rhine. 

The States of Holland, far from the despair that 
Buckingham fondly imagined, had grasped the truth 
that the ambassadors were not happy over the dazzling 
success of Louis XIV, nor desirous of seeing the whole 
of his demands granted, nor too secure in the convic- 
tion that he would not make peace when it suited his 
convenience, regardless of his ally. Therefore the 
terms which the Prince was empowered to offer were 
conciliatory but not submissive. Pie might allow a 
sum of money for the costs of the war, and — if the 
peace hung upon it — a yearly payment for the right to 
fish ; but the surrender of any towns or men-of-war was 
prohibited, and if England accepted these terms, she 
must at the same time agree to an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance with the States.^" 

William III, Prince of Orange, was a young man. 
The English ministers made the error of treating him 
with a fatherly patronage that aroused all his obstinacy. 
When the cession of towns was mentioned, though, as 
Arlington said, "to make our termes goe down the 
more easily, we called it Cautionary Townes, for the 
performance of what should be promised us ", William 
declared that the States would never do it, nor could he 

49 State Papers, Holland, 189, £. loi, June 2s/July 5, 1672. 
60 Hop and Vivien, Notulen, pp. 180-181, July 5, 1672, N. S. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 195 

advise them so. In vain the two men to whom sover- 
eignty seemed the sweetest, most desirable thing in 
Hfe, dangled its temptations before the Prince, offering 
the province of Holland for his kingdom if he would 
procure satisfaction for England and reasonable terms 
for France. William replied that he liked better the 
honor of Stadholder which his people had given him, 
and that he could not prefer his personal advantage to 
his duty. " We found all the young men about him of 
a contrary mind ", wrote Arlington, " and whether we 
would or noe we heard them wishing there were a 
dozen of the States hanged, soe the Country had Peace 
and the Prince were Soveraigne of it." ^^ But William 
knew the role he must play better than the young 
hotbloods who surrounded him. He did all he could to 
strengthen the English distrust of France, succeeding 
so well with Buckingham that if it had not been for his 
phlegmatic colleague, a peace might have been struck 
up then and there. The Duke was sure that Charles 
would be content with reasonable terms, and that he 
would compel Louis XIV to similar reasonableness, or 
break the alliance. Buckingham even charged himself 
with the responsibility of obtaining a moderation of 
the French terms. Arlington, on the contrary, said 
frankly that the two kings could not be separated, and 
that it was useless to expect Louis to forego the ad- 
vantages to which his conquests entitled him. The 
Prince's angry arguments could no more move Ar- 
lington from this stand than Arlington's disserta- 
tion upon sovereignty could move the Prince, and so 

^^ State Papers, Holland, 189, ff. 226-22A, June 28/July 8, 1672, the 
plenipotentiaries to Clifford. 



196 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the ambassadors took their leave and drove to the camp 
of Louis XIV near Utrecht/' 

The French King received them graciously and 
made them feel that their master's concerns were as 
dear to his heart as his own. Buckingham, who took 
color from his surroundings, chameleon-like, forgot all 
his assurances to the Prince of Orange and basked in 
the flattery of the Roi Soleil. '' Les Frangois sont 
honesfes gens " , he said, ''*' il faut faire les affaires avec 
eux." ^ Nevertheless, a faint, lingering suspicion on 
both sides, however concealed and denied, induced 
the French and English ministers to agree that the two 
kings should pledge themselves anew not to treat or 
conclude anything with the Dutch, without mutual 
participation and consent. This act, which was drawn 
up and signed in the French camp on July 6, is known 
as the Treaty of Heeswick.^* With the consent of 
Louis XIV, Arlington made one more effort to bribe 
the Prince of Orange with the offer of kingship. He 
drew up an act for William's signature in which it was 
promised that if he would procure the cession of the 
places required by England, the allied kings would 
make him sovereign of the United Provinces, with the 
exception of such parts as should be yielded to France 
by treaty .^^ But the messengers who carried this propo- 
sition to the Prince came back with no more satisfaction 
than Buckingham and Arlington had had. William's 

^^ Wicquefort, Histoire des Provinces-Unies, IV, 441-442. 

''^ Hop and Vivien, Notulen, 209, July 12, 1672, N. S.; Wicquefort, 
Histoire des Provinces-Unies, IV, 446-447. 

^ A copy of the treaty is in the Record Office. (State Papers, Holland, 
190, f. 46.) 

55 The original draft of this contract in Arlington's hand (ibid.^ 190, £. 
316) is undated. 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 197 

reply was to ask once more that the kings would in- 
form him of the lowest conditions acceptable to them.''^ 

Accordingly both French and English conditions 
were put on paper and sent to him with a copy of the 
Treaty of Heeswick to convince him that the allies 
could not be separated. Louis's territorial demands 
comprised roughly all of Flanders and Brabant belong- 
ing to the States General, with that part of Guelder s 
lying on the left bank of the Rhine. To this must be 
added humiliating commercial concessions, freedom 
for the exercise of the Catholic religion throughout the 
United Provinces, and the yearly presentation of a 
medal whose inscription should admit that the Prov- 
inces enjoyed liberty by grace of the King of France.*^ 

The English ambassadors differed widely over the 
extent of the English demands. Buckingham wanted 
to claim all Zeeland in the presumption still that what- 
ever they asked, the States would have to yield. Hali- 
fax, who had arrived at the French camp somewhat 
later than the plenipotentiaries, and now occupied an 
anomalous position on the outskirts of their embassy, 
advised that the demands be moderated as much as 
possible for the sake of peace, of which, he was certain, 
England stood in need. Arlington's opinion lay mid- 
way between these extremes, adhering rather more 
closely to the instructions, which probably emanated 
from him in the first place.'* Eventually he compro- 

^ Ibid., 190, f. 46, July 7/17, Arlington to Clifford; State Papers, 
Archives, loi, f. i6, letter undated, from the Prince of Orange to 
Buckingham, Monmouth, and Arlington. (Copy.) 

" Mignet, Negociations, IV, 33-34. 

^ State Papers, Holland, 189, f. 315, " Some unperfect Memoires of 
passages in the Lords Ambassadors Journey to the French Camp, 1672 
etc." These notes are by Williamson, who was secretary to the ambassa- 
dors. Part of the passage here referred to is quoted in Foxcroft's Life of 
Halifax, I, 92-93. 



198 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

mised with Buckingham : the deHvery of the islands of 
Walcheren, Cadsand, Goree, and Woorne, and the city 
of Sluys, was required, but as " cautionary " to the 
fulfilment of the treaty — a phrase of which Arlington 
was fond because it committed the government neither 
to the redelivery of the places nor to their retention. 
For the rest, the instructions were observed, the sum 
for the expenses of the war being placed at one million 
pounds, and that for the right to fish at ten thousand 
pounds a year.^** 

So little did the ambassadors expect the States to 
yield these terms without further fighting, that they 
did not wait for the Prince's answer, but made their 
adieux to the King of France and started on their home- 
ward journey through Flanders, intending to interview 
the Spanish governor, the Count de Monterey, at Ant- 
werp and frighten him, if possible, into withdrawing 
the forces he had loaned the Dutch. Twice they were 
delayed by messages from the Prince of Orange, who 
seemed to be wavering and half -inclined to yield to the 
English terms if they were moderated but a little. But 
his real purpose was to discover what passed between 
the ambassadors and Monterey, and, to gain time by 
pretending indecision.^" His advances made the am- 
bassadors hesitate and think of returning to the French 
camp to resume pourparlers, but, having consulted with 
the French ministers by letter, they continued their 
journey, advising the Prince to send deputies fully em- 

^® Mignet, Negociations, IV, 48-49. 

60 Wicquefort, Histoire des Provinces-Unies, IV, 452-453; State Papers, 
Holland, 190, f. 94, July 11/21, 1672, Buckingham, Arlington, and Halifax 
to Clifford, from Antwerp; ibid., 190, ff. 320 et seq., Williamson's 
journal, July ii/21-July 18/28; State Papers, Archives, loi, f. 37, July 
15/25, 1672, Arlington to Charles II. (Copy.) 



THE CABAL MINISTRY 199 

powered to sign the peace to both London and Paris. 
At Antwerp the Governor-General turned a deaf ear 
to their threats, though he entertained them at supper 
where, it is written, all was " great and noble and 
healths went round a pace ".^^ 

Arlington was so far deceived by the Prince's sem- 
blance of yielding that he believed the peace was very 
near. Writing to Charles II from Antwerp, he said: 
" To-morrow we part from hence, and shall make all 
hast we can home. But that your Majesty may not be 
without some faire prospect of your buisness I will 
presume, by way of advance, to lay before you some 
points of it, of which I thinke you may be secure. 
I That a peace may be speedily made with honor and 
advantage to your Majesty. 2^y That the Prince of 
Orange will remaine soveraine of the Dutch Low 
Countries. 3^^ That the maritime force of it will not be 
in the French hands of which your Subjects have. ex- 
pressed so much Jealousy that they cannot take pleas- 
ure in your success. God continue it to your Majesty 
all the days of your life and make them long." ^^ 

In this comfortable conviction, not ill-pleased with 
the circumstances of his negotiation, the Secretary re- 
turned to England and took up the routine of his 
office. 

^Ibid., loi, f. 48, July 8/i8-July 11/21. (Copy of Williamson's 
journal,) 

^^ Ibid., loi, f. 37, July 15/25, 1672, Arlington to Charles II. (Copy.) 



CHAPTER XL 

Parliament and the Cabal. 

During the latter half of 1672 Arlington's state of 
mind gradually changed from confident expectation of 
the peace to passionate desire for it. The cause was the 
financial difficulties of the government coupled with 
his personal fear of ParHament. The Houses were to 
meet on October 30. If the Commons declined to sup- 
port the war, it would be impossible to maintain the 
fleet through another campaign, and, on the other hand, 
the Dutch would be emboldened to refuse terms of 
peace that would enable England to withdraw from the 
war with credit. Unfortunately William of Orange 
realized this as well as the Secretary of State. Several 
agents commissioned by the Prince appeared succes- 
sively in England, ostensibly to make proposals for a 
separate peace between England and the Dutch. Their 
real errand, as the Committee of Foreign Afifairs began 
to suspect, was to discover the state of public opinion 
in regard to the French alliance, perhaps to bring in- 
fluence to bear on members of Parliament, and certainly 
to create the impression that the Prince was making 
every effort to restore peace, while England was hang- 
ing back at the bidding of France."^ 

1 The first of these agents was the Princess Dowager's physician. Doctor 
Rompf, who arrived in London the latter part of July with proposals for a 
separate peace. The next was the Prince's secretary, Van Reede, who 
came about the middle of September, similarly commissioned. The final 
attempt of the sort was made by a lawyer named Zas, accompanied by a 
notary of the Hague, called Arton. They arrived in January, 1673, Zas 
having a credential letter from Fagel, who had succeeded De Witt as 

200 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 201 

At his return, Arlington had expected that deputies 
fully empowered by the States General to treat for 
peace would follow him to London, while others were 
sent at the same time to Paris. Disappointed in this, he 
still hoped to end the war before Parliament should 
assemble. In the Committee of Foreign Affairs he 
contended with his more belligerent colleagues to ob- 
tain a moderation of the English demands. On his 
advice, and contrary to Buckingham's, the King offered 
to accept the coveted towns for a period of ten years 
instead of in perpetual sovereignty.^ On his advice, 
too, and contrary to that of the rest of the Committee, 
Charles conceded the point of treating in a neutral 
place, instead of obliging the Dutch to send their 
plenipotentiaries to London and Paris.^ But the Prince 
was deaf to these and to other blandishments. His 
aloofness, and the suspicion that he was tampering 
with Parliament men in order to embarrass the govern- 
ment, was more than Arlington could endure with 
philosophy. Under the pressure of his official anxie- 
ties the suave courtesy and self-possession for which 

Grand Pensionary of Holland. By this time the patience of the King and 
his ministers was exhausted, and the nearness of the date set for Parlia- 
ment's meeting, made them suspect that the Dutchmen had come with some 
design to influence that body. (See the minutes of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, Foreign Entry Book, 177, Dec. 11, 1672; Jan. 25 and 
Jan. 26, 1672/3.) The two men were thrown into the Tower, were shown 
the rack, and tried as spies by court-martial. They were still in the Tower 
in May, 1673, and probably remained there until the peace was signed. 

2 Rompf had offered terms acceptable to England save as to the cession 
of places. In that point, he offered Sluys to be held only until the other 
conditions had been fulfilled. (Mignet, Negociations, IV, 52, Aug. 8, 
1672, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV.) It was decided in Committee to en- 
courage this negotiation by offering to accept two places, as Brill and 
Helvoetsluys, or Flushing and the island of Groree, for a term of ten years. 
As Charles still declined a separate peace, Ronipf's advances came to 
nothing. (Foreign Entry Book, 177, July 31, 1672.) 

3 Ibid., Aug. 18, 1672. 



202 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

he was distinguished, dropped away, and when, shortly- 
after the assassination of De Witt, the Prince's secre- 
tary. Van Reede, came to England with a letter of 
barren compliment to the King, and proffers of a 
peace apart from France, Arlington lost his temper. 
He gave Van Reede to understand that it would be a 
simple matter, if the King of England so desired, to 
have the Prince served as De Witt had been.* It was 
the worst mistake he could have made in dealing with 
the Stadholder. William replied at once without dis- 
sembling the cold, disdainful rage that the threat had 
aroused : " Do not believe ", he wrote, " that your 
menaces of having me torn to pieces by the people 
frighten me greatly. I am by nature not very timid." ° 
Colbert noticed with apprehension that the King and 
the Secretary were becoming more and more eager for 
peace as the time of Parliament's meeting drew near.^ 
On August 19, Arlington confided to him that if the 
peace were to be made, it must be in three weeks, in 
order to defeat the intrigues already forming among 
members of Parliament; he seemed in almost feverish 
haste to begin a treaty, and spoke of going himself as 
plenipotentiary.' At the meeting of the Committee the 
day before, he had urged a prorogation until after 
Christmas, as it was unlikely that money would be 
granted before that time anyway, and the delay might 
oblige the Dutch to treat. But Shaftesbury argued that 

* Temple, Works, IV, 85. For the nature of Van Reede's mission, see 
in Fruin's Verspreide Geschriften, IV, 355, the article entitled, " Willem 
III en zijn geheime Onderhandelingen met Karel II van Engeland in 
1672 ". 

"State Papers, Holland, 191, f. 225, Oct, 7, 1672, N. S., the Prince of 
Orange to Arlington. (French.) 

« Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 104, f. 67, Aug. 11, 1672, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

''Ibid., 104, f. 87-92, Aug. 29, 1672. N. S., the same to Pomponne. 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 203 

unless it were certain a treaty could be set on foot, the 
postponement would be worse than useless.^ On Sep- 
tember 5, Arlington applied in desperation to Colbert 
for the loan of a milHon pounds over and above the sub- 
sidy due in October — relief that would enable the King 
to prorogue, but the ambassador assured him that his 
master's resources, already taxed by the war, would not 
permit of the loan, and refused to report the Secre- 
tary's proposition/ 

Nevertheless the Cabal finally made up its mind to 
try the effect of a prorogation to the beginning of Feb- 
ruary. This was decided on September 16 in the Com- 
mittee, and, in order that the step should not seem to 
have been taken conspiratorily, the Privy Council was 
called on the seventeenth to hear the King's reasons/*^ 
It was hoped that before February a treaty of peace 
would be signed, and this seemed highly probable when 
in November the combatants agreed to a truce in order 
that negotiation might begin. 

The English ministers made ill use of the breathing 
space that the prorogation allowed them, by wrangling 
with one another. This time the fault was Arlington's. 
In the middle of November the King took the seals 
from Bridgman, who had long been but a shadow in 
affairs, and bestowed them on Shaftesbury with the 
title of Lord Chancellor. This left a vacancy in the 
Treasury Commission, and public opinion at once 
jumped to the conclusion that a new Lord Treasurer 
would be chosen. Surmises divided between Arlington 

* Foreign Entry Book, 177, Aug. 18, 1672. 

"Arch. Aff. :^tr., Angleterre, 104, ff. 117-118, Sept, 15, 1672, N. S., 
Colbert to Louis XIV. 

10 Foreign Entry Book, 177, Sept. 15 and 16, 1672; Arch. Aff. Etr., 
Angleterre, 104, f. 128, Sept. 26, 1672, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV. 



204 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

and Clifford for the post." The Secretary longed to 
enjoy the title and the honor, but he feared the danger 
to which such a charge might expose him in Parlia- 
ment, and did not care to make himself conspicuous by 
advancement before the next session at least. While he 
pondered and hesitated, the Duke of York, whose 
friendship for Clifford had thriven on a common fer- 
vor for the Catholic faith, proposed that Arlington join 
him in recommending Clifford for the place. Arling- 
ton and Clifford had been intimate friends for ten 
years, a relationship which the Secretary still regarded 
as that of patron and protege, for it was under his 
wing that Clifford had first made his appearance at 
Court, and Arlington's favor had made his advance- 
ment rapid. He was a member of the Treasury Com- 
mission and also Treasurer of the Household; thus 
he had had considerable experience in finance which 
the Secretary entirely lacked. But neither Clifford's 
fitness nor the long friendship was proof against Ar- 
lington's jealousy. He answered the Duke of York 
coldly, saying that he believed the King had no inten- 
tion of altering the administration of the Treasury. 
At the same time, he endeavored to obtain the nomina- 
tion of his brother-in-law, Sir Robert Carr, to Shaftes- 
bury's place on the Commission. """^ 

But the Duke of York was not to be turned aside ; he 
went alone to the King and proposed that Clifford be 

" " Great speeches of a new Treasurer. Earl of Arlington some. Lord 
Clifford others." (State Papers, Dom., Charles II, 319 A., Williamson's 
Journal, Nov. 21, 1672.) " The Treasury yet continues to be managed 
by the old commission but it's thought my Lord Arlington or Lord 
Clifford will soone be declared Treasurer. Most think my Lord Clifford." 
(Hatton Correspondence, I, 102, Nov. 21, 1672, Charles Lyttelton to Lord 
Hatton.) 

" Clarke, James II, I, 481. 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 205 

made Treasurer. As Charles himself had much liking 
for a man whom he knew to be honest and courageous 
as well as capable, he readily gave his consent. He 
added that Lord Arlington had a mind to have that 
staff, but he was not fit for such an office which would 
surely be his ruin by exposing him to the malice of his 
enemies. He, the King, had told him that he had too 
much kindness for him to grant his wish." So, on 
November 28, the white staff was put in Clifford's 
hands, and Arlington made no secret of his disappoint- 
ment, complaining bitterly to his friends of the other's 
ingratitude.'* The good-natured King, noticing his 
favorite's glum looks, bade the Duke of York remon- 
strate with him and bring about a reconciliation, but, 
though both men submitted to his endeavors, the old 
friendship was broken past mending.""^ 

This humiliation and the failure of certain well- 
defined hopes he had been cherishing that his master 
would make him a duke, brought the year gloomily to 
an end for the Secretary of State.'^ It was whispered 
at Court that his great power was waning, and he did 
not lack enemies to rejoice." In the Committee of 

13 Ibid. 

"He talked at length to Colbert on the subject. (Arch. Aff. Etr., 
Angleterre, 104, f. 210, Dec. 8, 1672, N. S., Colbert to Pomponne.) 

"Clarke, James II. I, 481. 

" On the day that Clifford became Treasurer, Colbert wrote to Pom- 
ponne: " Je sgais aussi de bonne part que le Roy Son Maitre a dessein de 
le faire bien tost due sous le titre de Berri, et de luy donner du bien con- 
siderablement pour soutenir cette dignite." (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 
104, f. 210-21 1, Dec. 8, 1672, N. S., Colbert to Pomponne.) The ambas- 
sador's " reliable source " was probably Arlington himself. " Berri " no 
doubt means Bury St. Edmunds, in whose neighborhood (at Saxham) 
Arlington had been born, and near which his country seat of Euston was 
situated. 

" " Lord Arlington is defeated in all his pretensions ... he speedeth 
no better in that than in his hopes of a dukedom. Chancellor, Treasurer, 
and Lauderdale keep firm, and seem to resolve to let him have nothing 



2o6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Foreign Affairs Clifford now acted with Shaftesbury 
and Lauderdale, leaving Arlington isolated, for Buck- 
ingham was playing the country gentleman at Cliveden, 
preparatory to embracing the popular cause — whatever 
that might be — when Parliament should meet. Charles 
II now turned often for advice to his more audacious 
counsellors, and was less anxious for peace than he 
had been. When Arlington pressed him to agree to one 
of the places suggested by the Dutch as suitable for the 
meeting of the plenipotentiaries, instead of insisting 
on his own choice of Dunkirk, the other ministers con- 
vinced the King that the concession was unnecessary. 
" It's your Majestys interest in Parliament to show all 
willingnesse to a Peace ", the Secretary said. Shaftes- 
bury replied that Parliament would not like to see the 
King of England yield everything, and the King of 
France nothing. Then Arhngton asked: "Will not 
Holland upon this refusall, prosecute their Tricks of 
sending ambassadors hither ? ", referring to an offer 
from the Dutch to treat at London, where, the minis- 
ters suspected, their ambassadors would endeavor to 
cultivate anti-French sentiments in Parliament men. 
" Let them ", responded the King hardily, " and ap- 
point them the Isle of Wight or Jersey." ^^ 

The influence of the three ministers who now pos- 
sessed the royal confidence is apparent in the masterful 
speech from the throne with which Charles opened 
Parliament on February 4, 1673. The Lord Chancel- 
lor's discourse was a still more daring defense of the 

they can hinder him of. Buckingham is the last man of the nation, out 
with the King and everybody else." (Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, 98. 
Quoted from a letter of Thomas Thynne to Sir W. Coventry, Dec. 4, 1672, 
among the Longleat Papers belonging to the Marquis of Bath.) 
^^ Foreign Entry Book, 177, Jan. 30, 1672/3. 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 207 

war, and concluded with the uncompromising allusion, 
'' Delenda est Carthago ! " At first it seemed that the 
policy of boldness was to be entirely successful, for the 
Commons voted a handsome supply promptly and 
unanimously, though they evaded expressing approval 
of the war. But the atmosphere changed suddenly 
when, taking up the Declaration of Indulgence, they 
addressed the King for its withdrawal." Before the 
address reached his hands Charles called his ministers 
together to discuss what reply should be made."" 
Shaftesbury, CHfiford, and Lauderdale were in favor 
of inducing the House of Lords to object to the pres- 
entation of an address by the Commons without the 
Lords' concurrence. It was thought that in the de- 
fense of their privileges, the Upper House could be 
brought to assert the King's prerogative in ecclesiastical 
matters that the Commons had denied. Arlington, 
on the contrary, was anxious to avoid a quarrel between 
the Houses until the money bill had left the Commons. 
His opinion was shared by the other Secretary of 
State, Henry Coventry, but the Chancellor, the Treas- 
urer, and Lauderdale declared that to have the Lords 
maintain the King's power in ecclesiasticals would be 
better than the money. Arlington inquired : " What 

'^^ Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 503-533. 

20 At the first debate on this subject in the Committee, the Ministers 
came to the following decisions: 
" Resolved. 

1. To keep the House Sweet. 

2. To endeavor to gett the Lords sent to for their consent. 

3. To endeavour to drive to a Bill of the matter of the Declaration. 

4. If the addresse be drawne sweet and gentle, so as onely to acquaint 
the King with their resolves and desires to frame a Bill etc., and not to 
bring and throw the Vote in the King's face, then not to have it goe to 
the Lords, but let it come directly to the King." 

(Foreign Entry Book, 177, Feb. 12, 1672/3.) 



2o8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

if the House of Lords should deceive your expectations 
and vote as the House of Commons did? " The King 
became a Httle uncertain : " Upon the whole matter that 
the Money Bill be first gott. What is the discretion 
for a man to be angry to his owne hurt . . . Have a 
care not to be left without a Fleet this Spring." '^ 

But the Commons had no intention of parting with 
the money bill until the King had satisfied them in re- 
gard to the Declaration of Indulgence. Charles was 
obliged to reply to the address, which he did on Febru- 
ary 24, offering to agree to any bill which should be 
presented to him for the relief of Protestant Dissenters, 
without, however, abandoning his position in regard to 
the prerogative in ecclesiastical matters. The Com- 
mons easily detected the subterfuge and demanded a 
more satisfactory answer. While awaiting it they 
worked on a bill to prevent the growth of popery, to 
be known later as the Test Act. It provided that all 
persons refusing the Oaths of Allegiance and Suprem- 
acy, and declining to receive the sacraments according 
to the rites of the Church of England, should be in- 
capable of public employment, military or civil.^^ 

In the meantime the King had once more taken coun- 
sel. Shaftesbury, Clifford, Buckingham, and Lauder- 
dale, supported by the Duke of York, advised him to 
maintain the Declaration and dissolve Parliament. Ar- 
lington alone argued for the withdrawal of the Declara- 
tion on the ground that while the King had a great war 
on his hands, the matter of first importance was to 
draw an aid from his people that should enable him to 
make an advantageous peace. After that Parliament 

21 Foreign Entry Book, 177, Feb. 16, 1672/z. 

22 Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 546-555. 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 209 

might be dissolved.'^ But Charles was not in a mood 
to relish this prudent advice. Failing to obtain en- 
couragement from the Lords, he made up his mind to 
dissolve Parliament, and would have done so had not 
Louis XIV, to whom as to Arlington the money bill 
was more important than the Declaration, pressed him 
to yield/* On March 8 the Houses learned that the 
Declaration had been canceled/^ 

The House of Lords now became the storm-centre. 
Clifford felt himself inspired of God to make a long 
impassioned speech against the Test Bill, thereby start- 
ling all the Ministers, angering the Commons, and once 
more endangering supply .""^ But Shaftesbury's conduct 
caused a greater sensation, for he suddenly deserted 
the Court party and spoke in favor of the Test." The 
usual explanation of his abrupt about-face is the sup- 
position advanced by the French ambassador : that Ar- 
lington, bent on the Treasurer's ruin, communicated the 
Grand Design to Shaftesbury, and also to Ormonde at 
this time.^ Colbert was even disposed to credit an 

23 Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix, p. 130, March 9, 1673, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV; also, Arch. Aflf. Etr., Angleterre, 106, flf. 133-135, the same 
to Pomponne, of the same date. These letters were written just after the 
ambassador had listened to Arlington's explanation of his attitude in the 
matter. 

24 Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix, p. 95, March 20, 1673, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

25 Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 561. 

26 Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, 138-139. 
^•^ Ibid., II, 136. 

28 " . . . je n'ay que trop d'Indices que pour perdre le feu Milord 
Cliffort, il donna cognoissance au due Dormont et au Chancellier, et par 
eux au Parlement du premier dessein qu'il m'a advoue luy mesme n'avoir 
jamais aprouve dans I'ame, et ne s'y est rendu que pour eviter sa perte." 
(Arch, Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 108, f. 114, Nov. 20, 1673, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV.) This letter was written eight months after the event, and 
at a time when Colbert no longer trusted Arlington's attachment to the 
French alliance. The accuracy of the guess is therefore open to doubt. 

15 



210 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

assertion of Saint-Evremond, that Shaftesbury and 
Arhngton together devised the Test, knowing that 
Chfford's conscience would not allow him to take it/' 
But it is difficult to believe that the Secretary ever 
communicated the existence of the Treaty of Dover to 
any one, being far more implicated in its negotiation 
than Clifford. If Shaftesbury was enlightened as to 
the religious predilections of the Court, it was more 
probably by the Lord Treasurer's fondness for the 
Declaration, his speech against the Test, his intimacy 
with the Duke of York whose conversion to Catholi- 
cism was scarcely in doubt, and the favor he enjoyed 
with the King. When the Test was being devised in 
the House of Commons, the Chancellor was working 
with Clifford to fortify the King in maintaining his 
prerogative in matters of religion, while Arlington 
would clearly have sacrificed every one of the Thirty- 
nine Articles for the bill of supply. Is it likely that at 
the time of this disagreement the Chancellor and the 
Secretary of State were plotting the Test in entire 
harmony? It was a simple matter for Shaftesbury to 
change horses in mid-stream when once he was satis- 
fied that he could run a better race in another saddle. 
Probably the events of the session convinced him that 
the government was doomed to eventual defeat by the 
unpopularity of both its foreign and domestic policies. 
With characteristic prescience he transferred himself 
to the winning side before it had realized that it was the 
winning side. 

The Cabal had never enjoyed public esteem, but of 
late it had become more than ever an object of hatred 
and suspicion. Just a week before Parliament met, 

29 Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, II, 138-139. 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 211 

the Secretary received a pamphlet published anony- 
mously at the Hague, entitled England's Appeal from 
the Private Cabal at White-Hall, to the Great Council 
of the Nation, the Lords and Commons in Parliament 
Assembled. By a true Lover of his Country^"" In 
spite of Arlington's efforts to keep the book out of Eng- 
land, a consignment was smuggled into the country in 
March, and the comment it evoked was highly damag- 
ing to the French alliance and to the English ministry."' 
The author intimated "the wonderful Effects the 
French King's Liberality had (almost four years since) 
in converting the strongest Opposers of his Interest ". 
Certain aspects of Arlington's hospitality were dwelt 
upon : " I suppose it is not usual to see so great a 
familiarity (as hath been observed long since) between 
Ambassadors and first Ministers of State, continual 
Treatings, and frequent going to Country-houses, there 
to stay several days and weeks, is a new thing in the 
world: and an Ambassador using so Noble a House 
with so much freedom, gave a just cause to all observ- 
ing men to conclude he had paid dear for it." The 
death agonies of the Triple AilHance were rehearsed: 

^^ Arlington mentioned to Colbert that he had received a copy of the 
book on Jan. 28, 1672/3. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 106, ff. 78-79, 
Feb. 7, 1673, N. S.) England's Appeal has been reprinted among the 
State Tracts. 

'^ " Ce projet qui tend, comme Votre Majeste pent juger, a revolter les 
sujets contre le Roy leur Maistre, a fort irrite ledit Roy." (Arch. Aff. 
Etr., Angleterre, 106, f. 79.) " Les Holandois ont trouve moyen de 
respandre Icy un des Libels Intitulez Appel de V Angleterre . . . Milord 
Arlincton m'a dit qu'il estoit extremement Injurieux a la france et tres 
dangereux dans la conjoncture presente de I'assemblee du Parlement." 
(Ibid., 106, f. 169, March 27, 1673, N. S., Colbert to Pomponne.) "This 
book vexes the English extremely." (Cal. St. P., Dom., 1673, p. 127.) 
" The Dutch deputies say this pamphlet does wonderfuU effects in Eng- 
land." (Additional MSS., 34342, f. 67, April 4, 1673, Baron de Vique 
to Sir Robert Southwell.) 



212 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

the rejection of overtures from the Emperor and the 
Duke of Lorraine ; the metamorphosis of the Commit- 
tee of Foreign Affairs, by which Bridgman, Ormonde, 
and Trevor were forced into the background on ac- 
count of their Dutch sympathies. Next the author 
turned to the embassy of Buckingham and ArHngton 
to the French camp the preceding summer. He ac- 
cused them of sacrificing the interests of England to 
the aggrandizement of France, by refusing to treat 
unless the impossible demands of Louis XIV were also 
satisfied; by making the Treaty of Heeswick; by ex- 
cluding Halifax from the secrets of the negotiation. 
The pamphlet concluded with a series of twenty ques- 
tions propounded to Parliament for an investigation 
of the basis of the French alliance. The twentieth 
sums up the crimes of the Cabal : " And Lastly, How 
faithfully our Ministers have discharged their Trust 
in these great Emergencies. How free they have been 
from dependences upon Foreign Courts . . . Their 
industrious Endeavours and various Stratagems to en- 
gage his Majesty and the Nation in this War, their 
Ingrossing all business of concernment, and concealing 
the most Important Debates and Resolutions from his 
Majesty's Privy Council. Nay, their keeping it un- 
seasonably from his great Council, and putting off 
their Sessions, lest they might cross their designs. 
Lastly, The carriage of some of them in Holland, and 
of the care they took of the Interest both of England 
and of the Protestant Religion." 

What this book lacked in literary finish it more than 
made up in crude, forthright vigor. It was the work 
of one Pierre du Moulin, who had gained in Arling- 
ton's office some of the information he now gave to the 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 213 

world. He was at present in the employ of the Prince 
of Orange, who may have supplied the facts touching 
the embassy of Buckingham and Arlington.^^ A per- 
sonal grudge that Du Moulin cherished against the 
Secretary of State added to the ardor of his attack. 
Fortunately for Arlington the pamphlet made its ap- 
pearance too late in the session to be assimilated by 
Parliament. The Test Act had passed the House of 
Lords, so in good faith the Commons completed the 
bill of supply, and the King was able to prorogue on 
March 29 to the following October. 

The summer was a period of change both of per- 
sons and policies in the government. York and Clif- 
ford resigned from their places; the Admiralty was 
put in commission, while the Treasurer's staff was be- 
stowed on Sir Thomas Osborne, Buckingham's pro- 
tege, the King again ignoring Arlington's advice to re- 
establish the Treasury Commission.^^ Shaftesbury, by 
his championship of the Test Act, was completely out 

22 Pierre Du Moulin, grandson of the renowned Huguenot controver- 
sialist of that name, was a figure of some minor political importance. He 
had been secretary to the English embassy at Paris until Montagu, unable 
to endure his intrusiveness, insisted upon his dismissal. At the solicitation 
of the Countess of Horn, Lady Arlington's cousin, Arlington then ap- 
pointed him secretary to the Committee of Trade and Plantations. He 
was, however, too much of a busybody to keep out of mischief. In 1672 
he was caught endeavoring to communicate with the Dutch deputies at 
Hampton Court, and, to escape imprisonment in the Tower, fled to Hol- 
land. The Prince of Orange took him into his service, and tried, through 
his knowledge of persons and parties in England, to keep in touch with 
discontented members of Parliament. Du Moulin's authorship of Eng- 
land's Appeal is asserted by Colbert de Croissy (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angle- 
terre, 106, f. 78, Feb. 7, 1673, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV) and by the 
Baron de Vique in a letter to Sir Robert Southwell (Additional MSS., 
34342, f. 6y, April 4, 1673, N. S.). The suspicion that Lisola collaborated 
in the writing is, I think, unfounded, for the piece is wholly lacking in 
the elegance of his style. 

S3 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 107, f. 49, June i, 1673, N. S., Colbert to 
Louis XIV. 



214 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

of favor with the King and the Duke of York, and was 
regarded by them as a dangerous renegade. The Chan- 
cellor was rapidly drifting away from the French policy 
that he had so lately endorsed, in the direction of the 
popular preference for Spain and Holland.^'' More- 
over, the Duke of York suspected him of a plan to dis- 
solve the King's marriage and conclude another by 
which Charles might have legitimate issue to succeed 
him.^'' 

Arlington, too, was shortening sail in expectation of 
a shift of the wind, but he acted with such caution that 
neither his friends nor his enemies could be sure of his 
position. Whatever had been his attitude in regard 
to the Test Act, it had not prejudiced him with the 
King, who, though he saw fit to deny him the Treas- 
urer's staff, still displayed great affection for him.^^ 
The King and Queen were entertained at Goring House 
in August, and it was again reported that Arlington 
was to be made a duke.^^ Yet it did not escape observa- 
tion that while the Secretary exerted himself to main- 
tain his influence over his master, he was at the same 
time progressing well in an intimacy with Shaftesbury, 
and was once more the close friend of Ormonde, who 

34 " Le Chancelier d'Angleterre . . . s'est declare depuis la Cessation du 
partem ent d'estre tout a fait Hollandois ..." (Arch. Aff. Etr,, Angle- 
terre, 107, f. 39, May 18, 1673, N. S., the same to Pomponne.) 

^^ Ibid., 106, f. 213, April 17, 1673, N. S., the same to Louis XIV. 

36 " -^y Lord Arlington keepes his own very well, I assure you." 
(Hatton Correspondence, I, 107, June 24, 1673, Charles Lyttelton to Lord 
Hatton.) On June 30/July 10, Colbert wrote of Arlington: " Ce dernier 
a tousjours la plus grande part dans la Confiance du Roy son Maistre et 
acquerre en mesme temps beaucoup d'estime et de Credit dans le Parle- 
ment." (Arch. Aff. ]&tr,, Angleterre, 107, f. 90.) 

^'f Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, I, 156, Aug. 11, 1673; ibid., p. 59, 
same date. (News-letters.) 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 215 

belonged to the party opposed to the French alliance.^ 
Colbert noticed these new affiliations with some un- 
easiness, as also a more marked inclination on the Sec- 
retary's part to consider the interests of the Prince of 
Orange/" But his suspicions were quieted by assur- 
ances from Charles, as well as from Arlington himself, 
of the latter 's good faith towards France.*" The am- 
bassador could not extract much comfort, however, 
from Arlington's exposition of the situation. The 
Grand Design, said the Secretary, must be entirely 
abandoned, for in an enterprise so odious to the king- 
dom the most powerful assistance that Louis XIV 
could give would be useless ; one must think now only 
of re-establishing the King's credit by an advantageous 
peace." It would be impossible for England to break 
with Spain, in case that power, joining the Dutch, 
should declare war on France. Arlington went so far 
as to say that his master would be obliged to separate 
from France, rather than incur a war with Spain.*" 
Charles was now no less solicitous than his minister that 
the Grand Design be buried and forgotten, and that a 
good peace be obtained before he need meet his Parlia- 
ment again.*^ 

38 Arch. Aft". Etr., Angleterre, 107, f. 63, June 22, 1673, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV; Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, I, 31, June 13, 1673; 
ihid., II, 25, Sept. 23, 1673; ibid., II, 29, Oct. 3, 1673. (News-letters.) 

39 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 107, f. 35, May 15, 1673, N. S., Colbert 
to Louis XIV. 

^ Ibid., 108, f. 33, Oct. 5, 1673, N. S., the same to the same. 

^ Ibid., 106, f. 195, April 3, 1673, N. S., the same to the same; ibid., 
106, f. 214, April 17, 1673, N. S., the same to the same. 

^ Ibid., 108, f. 32, Oct. s, 1673, N. S., the same to the same. 

*3 " . , , le Roy d' Angleterre et Milord Arlincton desirent si pas- 
sionnement que la paix se fasse avant I'assemblee du Parlement qui doit 
estre au commencement du mois d'octobre, que je suis persuade qu'aussi- 
tost qu'ils croiront la pouvoir conclurre a des conditions qui n'atirent pas 
a sa Majeste Britanique ou ausdits Ministres les reproches de la nation, ils 
y consentiront avec Joye." (Ibid., 107, f. 79, July 6, 1673, N. S., the 
same to the same.) 



2i6 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Weary as Arlington undoubtedly was of the French 
alliance, he still felt unable to extricate himself or his 
master from it until the war had justified itself and 
peace were made. If he had an understanding with 
Shaftesbury and Ormonde, it was probably to secure 
their assistance in keeping Parliament amenable until 
this should be accomplished, though it may have com- 
prehended a reversion to the policy of the Triple Alli- 
ance as soon as the King could disengage himself from 
France. Arlington believed that he could manage 
Shaftesbury,** and he thought to make use of the Chan- 
cellor's newly- won popularity in the House of Com- 
mons. The King, who understood Arlington if any 
man did, insisted that the Secretary was sincere in his 
desire to fulfil the treaty with France, and he told of a 
bribe of forty thousand pounds offered by Spain to 
Arlington, who refused it.*^ During the summer Ar- 
lington spared no pains to gain over to the Court party 
all the members of the Commons whose adherence 
might prove valuable, and in the autumn he flattered 
himself that the docility of the House could be relied 
upon.*^ 

■*4 Both Charles and Arlington assured Colbert that they were certain 
of Shaftesbury's good behavior, as if they had some engagement from him 
to that effect, (Arch. Aff. :Etr., Angleterre, io8, f. 34, Oct. s, 1673, N. S., 
Colbert to Louis XIV; ibid., 108, f, 77, Nov. 6, 1673, N. S., the same to the 
same.) 

^^ Ibid., 107, f. 147, Aug. 10, 1673, N. S., the same to the same. At the 
end of November, Charles told Colbert that the only persons who wanted 
to maintain the alliance with France were himself, the Duke of York, and 
Arlington. {Ibid., 108, f. 149, Dec. 4, 1673, N. S., the same to Pom- 
ponne.) 

^ " Ledit Mylord continue d'employer tous ses soins a asseurer au Roy 
son Maistre tous les principaux membres du Parlement, et il y a desja sy 
bien reussi auprez de quelques uns des plus suivis qu'il me tesmoigne avoir 
beaucoup moins d'Inquietude qu'auparavant du succez de la seance pro- 
chaine, et sur tout il me pria fort hyer d'asseurer positivement sa Majeste 
que quelques fortes que puissent estre les Cabales, elles ne seront pas 
capables d'obliger le Roy son Maistre a contrevenir a son Traitte." {Ibid., 
108, f. 41, Oct. 19, 1673, N. S., the same to Pomponne.) 



PARLIAMENT AND THE CABAL 217 

But the campaign of 1673 did nothing to cultivate a 
national fondness for the war or for the alliance with 
France. Since April the plenipotentiaries of the bellig- 
erents had been quarreling over terms of peace at 
Cologne, without coming in hailing distance of agree- 
ment. In the meantime the war went on but brought 
no advantage to England. The loss of a naval battle 
in August was attributed by Rupert, who commanded, 
to the cowardice of the French squadron, which the 
English were very ready to believe. This defeat made 
impossible the " descent " on the coast of Holland that 
the government had long been planning, and the troops 
that Charles had raised at great cost for this purpose 
were useless. Arlington, with his thoughts always on 
the meeting of Parliament, had moments of panic when 
he wanted to recall the English ambassadors from 
Cologne, rather than face the Commons still in uncer- 
tainty between peace and war.*' He would have per- 
suaded the King to dissimulate his intention to abide 
by the French league, in order not to excite opposition, 
but Charles laughed at his fears.*^ All five members of 
the Cabal were shaken by the vogue of England's Ap- 
peal, and hearing rumors of impeachment of this one 
and that, took the precaution of obtaining pardons of 
the King in the course of the summer and autumn."^ 

*'' " Nothing can be more prejudicial! to his affaires then coming to the 
Parliament in October with an uncertainty between Peace or War." 
(State Papers, Archives, 221, p. 183, Aug. 18, 1673, Arlington to the am- 
bassadors at Cologne.) 

*s Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 107, ff. 161-162, Aug. 17, 1673, N. S., 
Colbert to Louis XIV. 

49 Clifford's pardon is dated July 3, 1673 (Cal. St. P., Dom., 1673. 
p. 418) ; Lauderdale's, Oct. 3 {ihid., p. 567) ; Shaftesbury's, Nov. 7 (ibid., 
1673-167S, p. 11); Buckingham's, Nov. 19 (ibid., p. 26). Arlington's pardon 
is not calendared, but one of his clerks wrote to Williamson: " My Lord 
Arlington, the people say, would not be as good as his word to trust them. 



2i8 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Arlington, however, became somewhat more confident 
as he beUeved he saw results of his attentions to the 
Parliament men, and he upheld his master in a deter- 
mination not to prorogue.'" 

for this day his pardon was also sealed as ample as any of the others." 
^Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 46, Oct. 17, 1673, Henry Ball to 
Williamson.) 

60 « Milord Arlinton ne m'a pas paru moins oppose que le Roy son 
Maistre a I'esloignement de I'assemblee de son Parlement." (Arch. Aff. 
^tr., Angleterre, 107, f. 200, Sept. 11, 1673, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV.) 
In a letter of October 8 to the ambassadors at Cologne, Arlington wrote 
very cheerfully: " Wee are preparing here to see the Parliament assemble 
att the day appointed wherein wee doe not despayre of seeing His 
Majesty enabled to prosecute the War, notwithstanding the great aversion 
and dissatisfaction in the generallity of the People against the Allyance 
with France. But the point of Treatyes, Allyances with Forreigne Princes, 
the making of War and Peace, being so indisputable in the Crown, I can 
not perswade my self, that a Parliament so well complexiond as this 
towards Monarchy, and so particularly addicted to His Majesties Person, 
will abandon Him and his Honor in such an exigent, which I mention 
here to you, to fortify your discourses with the French Plenipotentiaries 
and the Mediators respectively, that the vulgar reports so artificially 
fomented by our adversaries may not dishearten them, especially His 
Majesty being resolved to maintayne the honour of His Treaty against all 
opposition whatsoever." (State Papers, Archives, 221, p. 332.) 



CHAPTER XII. 
At the Bar of the House of Commons. 

Whatever hopes the leaders of the House of Com- 
mons had encouraged in the Secretary of State, proved 
themselves delusive without delay when the Houses 
met on October 20. The Court had decided at the last 
moment to prorogue for a week, in order to observe the 
temper of the members. But before Black Rod could 
summon the Commons, they had hurried through an 
address upon their nearest grievance, the marriage 
recently arranged for the Duke of York with a Catholic 
princess, Maria of Modena. In spite of this ominous 
beginning, Arlington persisted during the week's res- 
pite in believing — or in pretending the belief — that if 
the Houses were given a free hand in religious matters, 
they would not encroach on the prerogative in foreign 
affair s."^ He did not yet realize that hatred of popery 
and hatred of the French alliance were one in the pub- 
lic mind — the effect in no small degree, perhaps, of 
England's Appeal. 

Shaftesbury saw nothing to be gained by sacrificing 
his popularity in a hopeless cause, nor is it likely that 

1 On October 26, Arlington wrote to the ambassadors at Cologne: " I£ 
wee may believe the asseverations of particular men that are the most 
leading in the House, or the Generall complexion of it, when His Majesty 
shall have given them satisfaction in matters of Religion, it is confidently 
presumd they will gratify him in all His other desires, and more ex- 
pressely abstayne from enquiring into the motives of the War, but on the 
contrary afford him a competent succour for the prosecution of it." 
(State Papers, Archives, 221, p. 373. Copy.) 

219 



220 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

his best efforts would have availed to save the govern- 
ment from the storm that now broke. Refused satis- 
faction in regard to the marriage, the Commons re- 
solved not to consider further supply before the expiry 
of that last granted/ unless the obstinacy of the Dutch 
should make it necessary ; nor before grievances were 
redressed, and the kingdom secured against popery, 
popish counsels and counsellors. On November 4, it 
was moved to consider the business of evil counsellors, 
and the Duke of Lauderdale's name had been men- 
tioned, when proceedings were cut short by another 
prorogation, this time to January 7.^ 

This dismal end of his expectations filled the Secre- 
tary with terror and despair. " I found my Lord Ar- 
lington in the deepest dejection at this result ", wrote 
Colbert the day before the session ended, " seeing 
clearly that his ruin is attached to the fall of the French 
alliance . . . My Lord Arlington fears greatly, too, 
that he will be accused this afternoon as an evil coun- 
sellor." ^ His timidity increased beyond possibility of 
concealment. Although the Princess of Modena had 
already been married to the Duke of York by proxy and 
was now at Paris, in the last stage of her journey to 
England, Arlington intimated to the French ambassa- 
dor that it would not be convenient to have the lady 
come at this shameful crisis, and that her best plan 
would be to retire of her own accord into Italy .° He 
would have disposed of the bridegroom no less sum- 

2 7. e., Sept., 1674. 

3 Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, col. 585-610. 

4 Arch. Aff. :Etr., Angleterre, 108, ff. 95-96, Nov. 13, 1673, N. S., Col- 
bert to Louis XIV. 

6 Ibid., 108, £. 75, Nov. 6, 1673, N. S., the same to the same. The Duke 
of York says : " Arlington advised the King to stop the Duchess in 
France." (Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 70, Nov., 1673.) 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 221 

marily for, with the support of Shaftesbury and Or- 
monde, he advised the King to send the Duke away 
from Court until the popular obsession of the prevalence 
of popery had somewhat subsided. Charles was ready 
to take any advice that might placate Parliament, and 
so allowed them to suggest withdrawal to the Duke. 
But James rejected the proposal so angrily that they 
dared not pursue it, having every reason to believe that 
he would never forgive them.^ 

The two months' recess was spent by the King and 
his ministers, first, in purifying the Court of all out- 
ward and visible professors of Catholicism except the 
Duke of York — in which work Arlington displayed a 
vigor that measured his anxiety; second, in trying to 
settle upon a tenable foreign policy. It happened that 
a Spanish ambassador, the Marquis del Fresno, had 
recently come to England with certain proposals in 
charge from the Dutch for a peace that should exclude 
France. While Arlington had hoped for the support of 
Parliament, he had evaded making any answer, but a 
few days after the prorogation he told Colbert that it 
was impossible for the King of England to continue 
the war ; he must listen to the Spanish ambassador, and 
before Parliament should reconvene the peace must be 
signed. Colbert argued in vain for a further proroga- 
tion to the end of 1674. The Secretary was immov- 
able.^ Nor could Charles, when appealed to, reassure 
the ambassador. Though he still insisted that he would 
not make peace without France, he confessed almost in 
the same breath that he could not continue the war.* 

« Burnet, Own Time, II, 42; Temple, Works, II, 294-295. 
'Arch. Aflf. Etr., Angleterre, 108, ff. 107-112, Nov. 20, 1673, N. S., 
Colbert to Louis XIV. 

« Ibid. 



222 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Having no plans himself he was waiting for some one 
to solve the situation for him, and Colbert knew that he 
would yield to strong pressure from whatever direction 
it came. Pressure from Arlington was what the 
ambassador chiefly dreaded. " My Lord Arlington ", 
he wrote, " tries to save his fortune by an entire com- 
pliance with the wishes of Parliament." ^ Colbert be- 
lieved that he was arranging a treaty with Fresno, and 
would have it ready to sign when Parliament met, 
expecting that the King would then be forced to give 
his hand to it.^" He was not surprised when, at the 
end of December, Arlington asked for Louis XIV's 
consent to a separate peace for England." 

Though the Secretary was taking the only course 
left open to him, it was one that entailed grave risk. 
Charles was sincerely anxious to keep faith with the 
King of France, and he wanted advice to that end, but 
Arlington could only suggest a surrender at discretion 
to Parliament. Impatient of such timorous counsel, 
Charles put himself in the hands of Buckingham and 
the new Treasurer, who at least had something to pro- 
pose. They were quick to use this advantage to dis- 
credit the Secretary, whose influence with the King 
seemed to decline day by day while theirs increased.^ 

8 Arch. Aff. ]£tr,, Angleterre, io8, flf. 114-115. 

*o Zfctrf., Ill, f. 24, Jan. I, 1674, N. S., the same to the same. 

"■ Mignet, Negociations, IV, 256. 

" " Le credit du due de Bouquinkam auprez du Roy son Maistre semble 
augmenter et celuy dudit Milord [Arlington] diminuer, ce qui luy donne 
beaucoup de Chagrin. Mais comme il est fort utile et affectionne au Roy 
son Maistre, il ne faut pas douter que ce Prince ne luy rende bientost sa 
confiance." (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 108, f. 128, Nov. 23, 1673, 
N. S., Colbert to Pomponne.) " Treasurer hath infinitly eclipsed Arlington 
with King." (Essex Papers, I, 150, Dec. 6, 1673, Lord Conway to Essex.) 
" King is firme to the Interest of France; . . . Treasurer and Duke push 
hard at Arlington." {Ibid., I, 153, Dec. 20, 1673, the same to the same.) 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 223 

As they were now championing the French alliance to 
gratify their master, Arlington, for his own preserva- 
tion, was obliged to throw himself into the arms of the 
popular Dutch party more unreservedly than he prob- 
ably would have done otherwise, and to claim the pro- 
tection of its leaders, Shaftesbury and Ormonde."^ 
The former was now in open revolt from the Court 
party, having been summoned to deliver up the seals 
early in November. In his place, Sir Heneage Finch, 
a man in the confidence of the Treasurer and Bucking- 
ham, was appointed Lord Keeper. Arlington had 
vainly opposed the change, and even after it was made 
he still cherished the hope of reconciling Shaftesbury 
with the King." But the other faction took care that 
he should not succeed, and it is not apparent that the 
Earl cared very much to be reinstated. 

Buckingham was busy with plans to prop up the 
French alliance. At his suggestion Louis XIV recalled 
Colbert, who could put no faith in Buckingham, and 
sent over Ruvigny once more. Buckingham's first 
plan had been to buy a majority in the House of Com- 

" Buckingham gains ground every day of Arlington with King and Duke. 
Hee and Treasurer and Speaker are, I thinke, at this time the persons of 
greatest power ..." {Ibid., I, 155, Dec. 25, 1673, Sir William Temple 
to Essex.) 

13 One of Lord Conway's correspondents wrote on December 11: 
*' These are the two partyes at Court, the Duke of Ormonde, Lord Arling- 
ton, Lord Shaftesbury, and Secretary Coventry; the Duke of Buckingham, 
Lord Treasurer, Mr. Speaker, and the Lord Latherdale, if he were there." 
(Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 92, a letter signed M. P., but 
indorsed " Roger Jones to Lord Conway ".) 

" " Quoy qu'il soit amy de Milord Arlinton, ce Ministre ne m'a pas 
paru fort satisfait de ce changement." (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 108, f. 
119, Nov. 20, 1673, N. S., Colbert to Louis XIV.) "II L Arlington] est 
mesme persuade qu'il a ramene le Chancelier a son devoir, et que ce 
Ministre est resolu de regaigner les bonnes graces du Roy son Maistre, 
travaillant a sa satisfaction conjointement avec tous ses amis." (Ibid., 
108, f. 132, Nov. 27, 1673, N. S., the same to the same.) 



224 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

mons with the money of France," but he abandoned 
this in favor of another less difficult and less dangerous. 
The Commons were suspicious that the Court had an 
agreement with France to overthrow the Established 
Church and bring in popery. To allay their fears, 
Buckingham, the Treasurer, and Ruvigny joined in ad- 
vising the King to offer the treaty of December 21, 
1 67 1, which Buckingham still believed to be the orig- 
inal agreement with France, for the inspection of the 
House as evidence of the purely political nature of the 
league. Charles gave his consent, and it was decided 
not to inform the other members of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs of the proposed step. At the last mo- 
ment, however, the King's resolution began to fail, and 
he wanted to consult the whole Committee. His 
advisers were discomfited, but were obliged to yield, 
seeing him on the point of abandoning the plan en- 
tirely." So, the day before the Houses were to meet, 
the Committee, now composed of York, the Keeper, 
the Treasurer, Buckingham, Ormonde, and the two 
secretaries, heard the proposal. " It was approved by 
all ", says Ruvigny, " except my Lord Arlington and 
the Duke of Ormonde, who opposed it absolutely." " 
Arlington knew that another treaty had preceded that 
of December, 1671, and no doubt he saw danger in the 
practice of exhibiting treaties to the House. Neverthe- 
less, the King was once more persuaded to the plan. 

It had absolutely no effect. The Commons, ignoring 
the King's offer to display the treaty, went back to their 

"Gardner, George Villiers. 280-281; Mignet, Negociations, IV, 238-239. 

"Mignet, Negociations, IV, 257, Jan. 15, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Pomponne. 

" Arch. Afif. ftr., Angleterre, iii, f. loi, Jan. 18, 1674, N. S., the same 
to the same. 



: AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 225 

grievances, and on January 13 began what threatened 
to be a thorough annihilation of the government, by 
attacking the Duke of Lauderdale, whose arbitrary 
administration in Scotland, and the despotic advice 
which he had offered the King, made him the most 
cordially detested of all the ministers. An address was 
voted for his removal from all employment, and from 
the King's person and counsels forever/^ 

It is possible that the Duke of Buckingham would 
have been reserved for another day if, in his eagerness 
to hasten Arlington's punishment, he had not intro- 
duced himself by a letter to the Speaker, desiring to be 
heard on " some truths relating to the Public " ." The 
Commons called him in, pleased at this tribute to their 
power and hoping to extract some information that 
would incriminate the other ministers. But the Duke, 
when he actually stood at the bar, suddenly lost his 
self-possession and spoke with clumsy incoherence. He 
declared that he had had as great a hand as any man in 
the making of the Triple Alliance, but that he did not 
want to see a war in which France had everything and 
England nothing, and if his advice had been followed 
all would have been well. He had not advised asking 
ships of the Dutch instead of towns. He was not of 
those who had received four, five, or six hundred 
thousand pounds, although he had spent an estate in 
the King's behalf. He referred pathetically to his 
sufferings for his devotion to the House in the astro- 
logical affair, when witnesses had been bribed to swear 
against him. Sneering at the incapacity of his col- 

*^ Grey, Debates, Jan. 13, 1673/4. 

^^ Ibid.; Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 62, Nov. 5, 1673, Thomas 
Derham to Williamson; ibid., 105-106, Jan. 2, 1673/4, Sir Gilbert Talbot 
to the same. 

16 * 



226 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

leagues, he said : " I can hunt the Hare with a pack of 
Hounds, but not with a pack of Lobsters." ^" He con- 
cluded by asking leave to sell his place of Master of the 
Horse if his removal was voted, and then withdrew in 
much confusion/^ 

The House was ill-satisfied with the indefinite nature 
of this discourse. One member not inexcusably won- 
dered that the Duke " should interpret the weighty af- 
fairs of this House to be his own private affairs "." 
The Duke, too, felt he had not done himself justice, 
and intimated that he desired to be heard again. The 
next day, therefore, the Commons drew up a list of 
questions on the points in regard to which they desired 
enlightenment, and then called him in. This time he 
spoke more connectedly and more boldly. It had been 
the opinion of himself and Shaftesbury, he said, to ask 
the advice of Parliament before war was declared, but 
this was contrary to Arlington's opinion. He had op- 
posed using French ships in the war, and had wanted 
France to give money instead ; Arlington wanted ships. 
Shaftesbury and he wished to engage the French to 
conquer and hand over to England certain of the Dutch 
towns. Arlington wanted no towns delivered for one 

2" Grey, Debates, Jan. 13, 1673/4. Burnet says ** a brace of lobsters " 
iOwn Time, II, 44), and interprets the metaphor to mean the King and 
the Duke of York, though he adds : " He had used that figure to myself 
but had then applied it to prince Robert and lord Arlington." (Z&id.) 
But the way the expression is quoted in Grey, and the fact that it follows 
an allusion to Arlington, make it seem probable that he still referred to 
that Minister, and possibly to Ormonde and Rupert. Another account, by 
a member of the House, bears this out: " His discourse was ffull of dis- 
traction, and sayd he was weary of the company he was joyned with, and 
knew how to kill a hare with hounds but could not hunt with lobsters." 
{Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 115, Jan. 16, 1673/4, Sir Christo- 
pher Musgrave to Williamson.) 

''^ Grey, Debates, Jan, 13, 1673/4. 

32 Ibid, 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 227 

year, so the French got all and England nothing. " Con- 
sider who it was locked up with the French Ambassa- 
dor ; my spirit moves me to tell you. When we are to 
consider what to do, we must advise with the French 
Ambassador." 

When he had ended his harangue, the Speaker asked 
him the questions agreed upon. They elicited only 
further accusations of the Secretary: Arlington had 
obtained the appointment of the French general, 
Schomberg, to command the English forces recently 
raised for the descent upon Holland. He had been in- 
formed that Arlington wanted government by an army. 
Arlington had advised the attack on the Smyrna fleet 
without declaration of war. It was Arlington and 
Ormonde that had got the vast sums he had named the 
previous day. As to his own activities, the Duke again 
claimed the credit of the Triple Alliance, showing 
f orgetfulness of the fact that the treaty had been signed 
in Holland : *' Lord Arlington and I were only em- 
ployed to treat, and finding the danger we were in of 
being cheated, pressed the Ambassadors to sign before 
they had power — It was an odd request to the Ambas- 
sadors, yet they did sign." To the question, " Who 
made the first Treaty with France, by which the Triple 
League was broken?", he answered: '* I made no 
Treaty." He disclaimed advising the Stop on the 
Exchequer, though he would not say who did — proof 
positive that Arlington had no hand in it. He avowed 
guardedly his approval of the policy of Indulgence, 
''but no farther than what might be done by the 
Declaration by Law ". He assumed responsibility only 
for the Treaty of Heeswick, which he defended as the 



228 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

best measure possible under the circumstances. This 
was the net result of the examination.''^ 

Buckingham had protested overmuch. No one who 
heard him was so blind as not to see that his answers 
had been dictated by personal hatred and not by love 
of parliamentary government. The House did not 
fall tooth and nail on Arlington, but discussed the 
quality and insufficiency of the Duke's revelations. 
One member declared that no one man could have 
carried through all the measures attributed to the Sec- 
retary, and therefore others must be implicated. The 
debate came to an end with an address for Bucking- 
ham's removal similar to that resolved in Lauderdale's 
case.''* 

In other quarters the Duke suffered for his ill- 
considered defense. The House of Lords was dis- 
pleased because he had presented himself before the 
House of Commons without permission from the Up- 
per House.""' The King was offended because Buck- 
ingham had broken his privy councillor's oath and 
revealed matters transacted at the board.''^ Therefore 
the Duke, who a few weeks before had seemed the 
most powerful man in England, now found no pro- 
tectors. He vanished from Court in obedience to the 
Commons' address, and his place of Master of the 
Horse was given to the Duke of Monmouth. 

Arlington, whose case came next before the House, 
profited by the mistakes of his enemy. He was aware 
that an impeachment was preparing against him and 

2' Grey, Debates, Jan. 14, 1673/4; Cobbett, Parliamentary History, IV, 
col. 630-649; Ashmole MSS., 807, f. 5. 

2* Grey, Debates, Jan. 14, 1673/4. 

^^ Essex Papers, I, 162, Jan. 17, 1673/4, Lord Aungier to Essex. 

^^ Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 130-131, Jan. 23, 1673/4, Sir 
Robert Southwell to Williamson. 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 229 

had even seen the heads of it.^' On the morning of the 
fifteenth of January the attack was begun by Sir Gil- 
bert Gerrard in a fashion so clumsy and inept that it 
gave the Secretary an advantage at the outset. Gerrard 
had, he said, " no prejudice to him or disobligation 
from him ", but must do his duty. Arlington was 
" the great conduit-pipe " through which all affairs 
passed, therefore he was responsible for the Declara- 
tion of Indulgence, and for the newly raised forces, 
and was meditating the destruction of the liberties of 
the House. Then in anti-climax to the broad wicked- 
ness thus alleged, Gerrard instanced : first, that Arling- 
ton with thirty others had voted for a proviso to the 
Conventicles Act, allowing the dispensing power of the 
King; second, that the licenses to conventicles conse- 
quent upon the Declaration of Indulgence, had passed 
through the Secretary's hands. ^^ 

This was the oral accusation. Gerrard also pre- 
sented a written charge in several articles grouped 
under the three heads following : 

" I. That the said earl hath been a constant and 
most vehement promoter of Popery and Popish Coun- 
sels. 

" 2. That the said earl hath been guilty of many and 
undue practices, to promote his own greatness, and 
hath embezzled and wasted the treasure of this nation. 

" 3. That the said earl hath falsely and traiterously 
betrayed the great trust reposed in him, by his majesty, 
as counsellor and principal secretary of state." ^^ 

2T His brother-in-law, Carr, would naturally furnish him with this 
information. In his speech before the House, Arlington took up in order 
the points which his enemies were prepared to present in their accusation. 

28 Grey, Debates, Jan. 15, 1673/4. 

29 Ibid. 



230 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The House had hardly entered in debate on these 
matters when a note from ArHngton was read by the 
Speaker. He had heard that the Honorable House was 
informing itself of public affairs, wherein he humbly 
conceived what he could say might be of use and satis- 
faction and he begged to be admitted.^** As the Com- 
mons really enjoyed minister-baiting, they made no 
difficulty about admitting him, and resolved to put the 
same questions that Buckinghanl had answered. 

Arlington had obtained the consent of both the King 
and the House of Lords to make his defense, and for 
the last hour had been waiting in the lobby of the Com- 
mons. The faithful Ossory accompanied him as far 
as the door. Now that the long-dreaded impeachment 
actually confronted him, he displayed a firmness and 
serenity that surprised all who witnessed it, and that is 
difficult to account for. It is possible that he had some 
assurance from Shaftesbury that all would go well 
with him. Certainly the beginning of the session had 
not alarmed him, and he had even expressed a belief 
that it would end well for the King.^^ He faced his 
accusers now with entire composure, bowed to the 
Speaker and to the four quarters of the House, and 
drew forth a paper from which he read his remarks, 
excusing this procedure on the ground of a poor 
memory. 

Beginning with the point of religion, he said he had 
never deviated from his education in the Church of 

3° Grey, Debates, Jan. 15, 1673/4. 

31 " Tijg Parliament now begins to sitt close to their work, and have yet 
declard no profess'd Severityes against any but the Papists. Wee Min- 
isters are more then a little threatend. God knowes what will become of 
us. Notwithstanding which I cannot but promise my self this will prove 
a good session to the King our Master and Kingdome." (State Papers, 
Archives, 221, p. 537, Jan. 12, 1673/4, Arlington to the ambassadors at 
Cologne. Copy.) 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 231 

England, nor had he ever attended mass or confession. 
He was present when the Declaration of Indulgence 
was debated, but was not the author of it. " I did at 
that time believe the King had an inherent right in him 
in such matters, but when I knew the Contrary, and 
that it was not Consistent with law, I was the first 
Man that perswaded the King against it." As to his 
having shown particular favor to papists : " I have 
promiscuously obliged all persons I could, without 
nicely enquiring theire Religion." 

Turning then to the political charges, he explained 
that he had ever been against any violation of the 
Triple Alliance, but that Buckingham had wished to 
destroy it. The treaty with France — here the Secre- 
tary became rather vague — had followed Buckingham's 
embassy of condolence to the French Court after the 
death of Madame. He, no less than Buckingham, had 
tried to obtain money instead of ships from France, 
but had been unable to prevail. "As to my being 
domestic with the French ambassador, I only received 
him with good Manners, and have used the same some 
time to Spaine, some time to Holland, and they have 
all been angry enuf with me since to have declared it 
if I had any pension from them long before now." 
He defended the appointment of Schomberg on the 
ground of his military skill, mentioning that he was a 
Protestant, born of an Enghsh mother, and had com- 
manded the English troops in Portugal four years with- 
out any objection being made in England. The Treaty 
of Heeswick had been a precaution which the circum- 
stances made necessary, though he and Halifax would 
have preferred to offer the Dutch more lenient terms 
than Buckingham would agree to. " Tis urged I was 



2Z2 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

against having of townes. Tis true. What could we 
have done with them ? Should we have rais'd an army 
only to defend them ? " Parliament had not been ac- 
quainted with the King's intention to declare war, it 
being unnecessary — here he intimated the prerogative 
— to do so. The Commissioners of the Treasury had 
assured the King that he had the money for it. The 
Secretary had never advised government by an army, 
nor the use of troops to overawe Parliament, and he 
had never heard any one else so advise. 

Lastly, the Secretary took up the more personal 
crimes of which he was charged : " As to my having 
vast grants from the King, Tis true I have a very 
indulgent Master, who hath been very kind to me, yet 
till of late I never got any thing. I have now an 
estate given me but for my own life : the Reversion is 
to others,^^ and what I have is not half e enuf to support 
the honor and dignity the King hath given me. I 
never had any Mony out of the treasury of England. 
Ten thousand pound I had out of Ireland, and twas 
payd me only as what I had for Secret Service. The 
Estate given me in Ireland was forfeited; it is about 
looo /. a yeare, — I am sure not iioo /. 

" As to my engrossing all affairs, those that know 
me, know tis not my humor so to do, and that I would 
thinke my selfe happy could I with Convenience re- 



^ That Is, to his son-in-law, the Earl of Euston. See p. 102, footnote 18. 

^^ The fullest version of Arlington's defense, from which the quotations 
in the text have been made, is in the Additional MSS., 28045, i. 21 et seq. 
It has been in part abstracted in the Cal. St. P., Dom., 167^-167$, p. 103. 
It follows closely though more amply the summary in Grey's Debates, 
Jan. 15, 1673/4, and the account in Cobbett's Parliamentary History, IV, 
col. 653-656. 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 233 

The questions served to make clear that the Secretary 
was strongly entrenched behind the argument of col- 
lective ministerial responsibility, and could not be dis- 
lodged. He assured the House that the French alli- 
ance, the Stop on the Exchequer, the Declaration of 
Indulgence, the attack on the Smyrna fleet, and the 
recent prorogations of Parliament were measures in 
which the whole ministry agreed.^* 

By his speech Arlington made an impression entirely 
unlooked for in the House, of intelligence and capacity 
for affairs. Hitherto his participation in all the frivoli- 
ties of the Court and his pandering to the King's mis- 
tresses had shown him in a disagreeable, and in some 
respects a mistaken light. Public opinion would have 
agreed with the Count de Grammont, that by means of 
his Spanish solemnity and his mysterious expression 
he " had given himself the character of a great politi- 
cian ; and no one having leisure to examine him, he was 
taken at his word, and had been made minister and 
secretary of state, upon the credit of his own import- 
ance ".^^ His speech before the House — the only one, 
apparently, that he had ever made — won surprised 
recognition of mental qualifications that few had sup- 
posed he possessed.^* It contained a large number of 

34 Additional MSS., 28045, i- 21. 

s5 Memoirs of the Court of Charles II by Count Grammont, 143. 

36 " . . , never man behaved liker a gentleman and a just servant to 
his master, and for his abilities showed himself worthy his master's choice 
of him to that place. Whereas he went in with the great ill impression the 
House had given them of his guilt, he came out with their great applause," 
(,Cal. St. P., Dam., i67S-i^75, p. 108, Sir Nicholas Armorer to Williamson.) 
" My Lord Arlington hath been these two days sur le tapis. He spblce 
yesterday to the House very long and very well and with an Universall 
applause, for his Frankness and Generosity not lightly criminating others, 
with great decency towards the House, and yet without any servile Sub- 
missions . . . thus much I dare surely say. That though the two former 
Presedents may draw him into the Mischief, yet he will have in the worst 



234 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

impeccable truths in the radiance of which certain 
reservations and imperfections passed unnoticed, and 
it struck a dignified mean between arrogance and ser- 
vihty. He had admitted his participation in every de- 
cision the government had taken, but denied a 
monopoly of authority by himself or any other man. 
He had not incriminated any one, for though Buck- 
ingham's name had several times been mentioned, it 
had not been in an accusing manner, whatever the in- 
tention. He had shown respect for the House, but he 
had maintained the prerogative. 

When the Earl had withdrawn, debate was resumed 
in a tone far more favorable to him than it had mani- 
fested before. Nevertheless, his enemies were not 
disposed to let him escape, and for that day and four 
days thereafter his case occupied a large share of the 
attention of the Commons. Finally on January 20, the 
House divided on the question whether an address 
should be made for his removal, and it was found that 
one hundred and sixty-six had voted against the ad- 
dress, and one hundred and twenty-seven for it.^^ After 
this triumph, Arlington's friends did not oppose a 
motion to refer Gerrard's articles to a committee, to 
discover whether there were ground for an impeach- 
ment.^^ The history of the committee is soon told. On 

of Events this Advantage of his Narrative, that his Enemies will Confess 
him much more fitting for the Charge he hath so long exercised then they 
had ever acknowledged before." (Additional MSS., 25123, f. 13, Jan. 16, 
1673/4, Secretary Coventry to Sir Leoline Jenkins. Copy.) For the im- 
pression made by Arlington's speech, see also: Sheffield, Works, II, 85; 
Essex Papers, I, 163; Cal. St. P., Dom., 1673-1675, pp. 114, 119; Letters to 
Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 112, 115, 119; Burnet, Own Time, II, 44-45- 

" Grey, Debates, Jan. 20, 1673/4. 

^^Ibid.; Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 127, Jan. 23, 1673/4, Sir 
Gilbert Talbot to Williamson. Arlington's friends had not opposed an 
impeachment from the first, seeing the flimsiness of Gerrard's articles, 
and his inability to produce witnesses to prove them. (Grey, Debates, 
Jan. 16-20, 1673/4.) 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 235 

February 16 its chairman reported that the committee 
was uncertain of just what it was expected to do. The 
House thereupon instructed that it should report " What 
proof or inducements shall be offered to the Committee 
fit for an impeachment upon every head of the said 
Articles "/^ So the Committee continued its meetings 
but, as one observer remarked : " Haveing not hopes 
to ruine him they are very slow in meeteing, and when 
they doe 'tis onely to adjourne." "" By this method of 
procedure they had accomplished nothing, made no 
report, when the session came to an end on February 

24" 

The failure of the attempted impeachment cannot be 
ascribed wholly to the eloquence with which the Secre- 
tary defended himself. It happened that at the moment 
of the attack he enjoyed the support of two parties. 

^^ Commons' Journal, Feb. 17, 1673/4. 

^Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson, II, 138, Feb. 6, 1673/4, Thomas 
Derham to Williamson. 

*■• The list of the committee does not show that Arlington was par- 
ticularly favored in its formation. Of his friends, it included Sir Robert 
Carr, Mr. Howe, Sir John Talbott, Sir Charles Harbord, Lord Aungier, 
Sir Thomas Lyttelton, Sir Henry Capel, and William Harbord. Of his 
enemies, there were: Sir Thomas Meres, Sir George Downing, Colonel 
Birch, Lord Cornbnry, Mr. Sacheverell, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Sir Charles 
Wheeler, Mr. Thynne. There were, however, twenty others on the com- 
mittee, whose attitude it is difficult to determine from Grey's Debates, or 
from personal or party associations. (Commons' Journal, Jan. 20, Jan. 26, 
Feb. II, Feb. 17, 1673/4.) After the prorogation it was rumored that 
Arlington had induced the King to end the session because he feared the 
committee was about to report an impeachment. (Arch. Aif. Etr., Angle- 
terra, 112, f. 37, March 8, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV.) But from 
the evidence of a member of the committee it is probable that the proro- 
gation forestalled a report to the House in Arlington's favor: "Had the 
Parliament sate longer I am confident the Committee who were to con- 
sider of the Articles against my Lord Arlington would have pronounced 
him innocent, to which they had a greate inclination last night, but Sir 
Robert Carres modesty cooled it, for when it was moved and so well sec- 
onded that there was but very little opposition. Sir Robert cryed Adjourne; 
so they breake up and adjourned till Fryday." (Letters to Sir Joseph 
Williamson, II, 155, Feb. 24, 1673/4, Lord Aungier to Williamson.) 



236 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The misbehavior of Buckingham had brought the King 
back to his old dependence upon ArHngton,*" which 
gained for the latter the suffrages of all adherents of 
the Court. At the same time, he could count on every 
vote that Shaftesbury or Ormonde could influence. 
This almost accidental combination was the chief factor 
in the Secretary's preservation. Even during the five 
days of suspense he seems to have felt reasonably con- 
fident that he was saved/^ and was preoccupied with 
plans for the peace which it was no longer possible to 
defer. 

On January 22 Arlington announced to the French 
ambassador that the King of England must use all 
means to facilitate peace, and therefore could not re- 
fuse the conditions which the Marquis del Fresno was 
empowered to offer; he besought Ruvigny once more 
to obtain his master's consent to a separate peace."*^ 
The ambassador hastened to the King, who soothed 

^ '■ Your Excellency will easily imagine how much wee have rejoyced 
in my Lord Arlington's good hap, for whom his Majesty was much con- 
cern'd, and as much displeased against the Duke of Buckingham for his 
behavior in the House — disclosing his councills, and telling things not 
agreeable to the truth." {Letters to Williamson, II, 130, Jan. 23, 1673/4, 
Sir Robert Southwell to Williamson.) " King sticks very close to 
Arlington." {Essex Papers, I, 164, Jan. 24, 1673/4, W. Harbord to 
Essex.) 

^3 The following is Arlington's dry account of what had taken place, 
written on January 19, to the ambassadors at Cologne: " Understanding I 
should be brought on the Tapis on thursday I gott leave of the House of 
Lords to goe to the House of Commons in person, where speaking long 
and ingenuously (as I thought) to them, great advantages are taken (as 
they call it) from my confession, which remains now my single charge in 
effect, after a long and well worded impeachment seemes in effect to be 
layd aside; my buisnesse alone hath entertayned the House, mtich to my 
grief, four full dayes, and candles having been refused to be brought in 
this evening, they have adjourned the debate till tomorrow when in all 
probability they will come to the decisive question, as they did in the 
Dukes of Buckingham and Loutherdales cases, wheather I shall be re- 
moved from His Majesties Counsells and presence." (State Papers, 
Archives, 221, p. 554, Jan. 19, 1673/4. Copy.) 

** Mignet, Negociations, IV, 264. 



AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 237 

him with the assurance that Fresno's proposals would 
not be accepted,*^ but Arlington had not devoted in vain 
a lifetime of study to the character of Charles 11. In 
two weeks the treaty of peace was signed. 

The House of Commons had a share in this denoue- 
ment. After relegating Arlington to the limbo of a 
committee, they had voted on January 24 to consider 
the state of the nation and the grievances arising from 
the war. To divert them from this fruitful theme, it 
was decided in the Committee of Foreign Affairs — 
perhaps on Arlington's suggestion, and certainly with 
his approval — to communicate to the Commons the 
conditions oft'ered by the Dutch through Fresno, and to 
ask the advice of the House.^ On the twenty-seventh 
of January it was voted to advise his Majesty '' to pro- 
ceed in a Treaty with the said States in order to a 
speedy Peace '\^^ Having asked for advice, Charles 
was obliged to take it, however reluctantly, and, the 
Spanish ambassador having powers from the States 
General to conclude, the Treaty of Westminster was 
signed on February 9. By it, England received the 
honor of the flag from Finisterre to Norway; per- 
mission for English subjects in Surinam to depart with 
their property ; and eight hundred thousand crowns 
for the costs of the war. The regulation of the East 

« Ibid. 

^ Arlington wrote to the plenipotentiaries at Cologne in regard to this 
step: " This communication hath wrought wonderfully upon the minds 
of both Houses, and disappointed the violentnesse of them for the present 
in the desires they had of pressing His Majesty strangely in many impor- 
tant points of the Government." (State Papers, Archives, 221, p. 568, 
Jan, 26, 1673/4. Copy.) I doubt if Arlington would have spoken so 
cordially if the proposal had been made by the Treasurer. But Lord 
Conway says: " This bone was cast before Parliament by advice of 
Treasurer, but I think Arlington broke the French Allyance." {Essex 
Papers, I, 168, Jan. 27, 1673/4, Conway to Essex.) 

*^ Grey, Debates, Jan. 27, 1673/4. 



238 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

India trade was to be left to a joint commission which 
should meet at once in London. At the last moment 
Charles was inveigled by the Spanish ambassador and 
the Secretary of State into allowing the inclusion of an 
article by which each party agreed not to assist the 
other's enemies."^ 

Thus ended the French alliance, and with it the rule 
of the Cabal. Clifford had died soon after his retire- 
ment; Buckingham was in disgrace; Shaftesbury had 
associated himself with the " country party " in oppo- 
sition to the Court ; Lauderdale's race was not yet run, 
in spite of the Commons' address, for as Secretary of 
State for Scotland he was practically out of reach of 
the English Parliament. Arlington, saved from Parlia- 
ment and still trusted by the King, stood half- 
committed to both the Court and the Opposition, and 
must now choose between them. 

^s Mignet, Negociations, IV, 269-271, Feb. 22, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny to 
Louis XTV; Burnet, Own Time, II, 48-49. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Retirement. 

The joy with which the Treaty of Westminster was 
hailed in England celebrated not so much the return of 
peace as the abandonment of France. It pointed out 
emphatically the foreign policy which would be most 
grateful to the English people. It was a policy most 
grateful, too, to the Secretary of State, notwithstanding 
the fact that he had strayed very far from it in def- 
erence to the King's fondness for France. He was 
obliged to reckon with that fondness still, although it 
had been thwarted by the failure of the war and the 
revolt of Parliament. Charles would consent to no 
alliances with the enemies of France, and thus pro- 
hibited a return to the measures of the Triple Alliance 
as long as the war should last. The negotiations at 
Cologne had proved ineffectual, and in the spring of 
1674 the powers recalled their ambassadors and pre- 
pared to go on with the war. Spain and the Emperor 
had joined the Dutch, who, thus strengthened, were 
by no means disposed to come to a peace before the 
aggressive power of France was humbled. To the dif- 
ficult task of overcoming this disinclination Arlington 
now applied himself. As soon as England had with- 
drawn from the war, Charles offered his mediation to 
the belligerents; it was accepted gladly by France, 
politely by the Prince of Orange, and reluctantly by 
Spain, who hoped to force Louis XIV to admit once 

239 



240 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

more the limits of the Peace of the Pyrenees. Such a 
reception augured small success to the pacific efforts of 
England, and, indeed, no progress was made. 

What could not be accomplished by formal media- 
tion, Arlington attempted by way of personal influence 
with the Prince of Orange. Correspondence flourished 
between these two during the year 1674, but as each 
was trying to make use of the other without committing 
himself to anything, neither could extract the slightest 
satisfaction.'' 

In domestic politics the Secretary was steering a mid- 
dle course with much delicacy and caution. By his 
abandonment of the Declaration of Indulgence and his 
friendship with Shaftesbury, and, most recently, by 
his opposition to the last prorogation of Parliament,'' 
which had been resolved to check an agitation begun 
by Shaftesbury and Ormonde looking to the exclusion 
of papists from the succession, Arlington had attracted 
for the third time in his career the hatred of the Duke 
of York. This was further increased by the Secretary's 
official severity towards Catholics, practised, no doubt, 
to convince the world of his orthodoxy,^ York allied 
himself with two other enemies of the Secretary, the 
Lord Treasurer, now Earl of Danby, and the Duke of 
Lauderdale, and all three exerted themselves to ruin him 

1 See the Prince's letters to Arlington of this year. Original Letters 
from William III, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24. 

2 Arlington's opposition to the prorogation was reported by Ruvigny, 
(Arch. Aff, Etr., Angleterre, iii, f. 232, Feb. 26, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Pomponne; ibid., 112, ff. 38-39, March 8, 1674, N. S., the same to 
Louis XIV.) 

3 For the Roman Catholic opinion of Arlington at this time, see the 
letters of William Throckmorton to Coleman (Hist. MSS. Comm., 13th 
Report, part VI, pp. 51-66, MSS. of Sir W. Fitzherbert) ; also Coleman's 
letter to Father La Chaise, Sept. 29, 1675 (Mr. Coleman's Two Letters 
to Monsieur V Chaise, 1-18). 



RETIREMENT 241 

with the King. The most obvious course for ArHngton 
would have been to associate himself frankly and com- 
pletely with the Country Party. But that would mean 
his exclusion from place and from the Court — a possi- 
bility that he could not contemplate. He was too old a 
servant, and too old a courtier to dream of mastery 
save through the royal favor and weakness. Therefore 
he preferred to circumvent the Duke by secretly encour- 
aging that aversion to a Catholic successor to the 
throne, already manifested by Shaftesbury's party. At 
the same time he promoted the interests of the two men 
whose pretensions and ambitions were most feared by 
the Duke of York, namely, the Prince of Orange and 
the Duke of Monmouth. Arlington argued constantly 
with the King the expediency of marrying the Princess 
Mary, York's eldest daughter, to William of Orange, 
regardless of the opposition of her father who saw in 
this an effort to strengthen the Prince's position as a 
possible heir to the throne.* As for Monmouth, Ar- 
lington insinuated himself into the confidence of the 
vain, weak young man, and made a tool of him.^ 

* " Et sur cela on ne doubte pas qu'il [Arlington] n'aye fait un plan de 
marier la Princesse Marie au Prince d'Orange, de ruiner ensuitte Mon- 
sieur le Due d'lork et puis apres de gouverner cette Cour par la Hol- 
lande, ce qui luy sera aussi facile, estant asseure de ne trouver pas 
d'obstacle du coste du Roy son Maitre." (Arch. Aff. iftr., Angleterre, 
112, f. 149, April 16, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny to Louis XIV.) 

5 " Arlington makes his Interest amongst the discontented Members of 
Hous of Comons, and Duke [York] and Lodderdale are his mortal 
enemies." {Essex Papers, I, 228, May 19, 1674, Conway to Essex.) 
"There is a great feud between York and Monmouth: the whole Court 
backs Monmouth, and Arlington hath wisely made him head of the party 
wich wil give him credit now and in Parliament." {Ibid., I, 261, Sept. 29, 
1674, William Harbord to Essex.) " The Duke of York told Monmouth, 
who was with him in the evening, that he feared Arlington. Though he 
was about to quit the place of Secretary of State, for the white staff, he 
would still have some part in affairs; and, by his fearful councils, ruin 
the King's affairs, as he had already done. He knew it was his design to 

17 



242 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

The French ambassador's comment on these circum- 
stances and their bearing on foreign affairs is of con- 
siderable interest: " It is certain ", he wrote his mas- 
ter, " that the Earl of Arlington is entirely devoted to 
the interests of the Prince of Orange, not only against 
those of France, but also against those of his master, 
who cannot be persuaded of it because, being informed 
thereof only by the declared enemies of that minister, 
he cannot believe them in the least when they talk to 
Arlington's disadvantage. That is why they say noth- 
ing more about him to the King, and leave him full 
liberty to say anything he pleases to his master without 
any contradiction from them; so that this minister, 
supported by the Duke of Monmouth who has great 
influence over the spirit of the King, his father, and by 
ladies and courtiers who live and breathe solely for 
money, is in a way to succeed in whatever he under- 
takes. His declared enemies, who are the Duke of 
York, the Lord Treasurer, and the Duke of Lauder- 
dale, know this well, and therefore are obliged to seek 
friends in Parliament in order not to lack protection in 
case of necessity. These three persons talk to me every 
day of the understanding which Arlington has with 
the rebels in Parliament, and of the correspondence he 
maintains with the Prince of Orange, with whom, 
since the peace of England, he keeps Silvius, who is 
known by all to be the creature of that Prince ; and this 
without order from the King, his master. The trio 
urge me often to speak of it to the King. But I believe 

ruin the good understanding between them. Monmouth answered, that he 
could not believe he had such evil intentions, else he would have nothing 
to do with him. The Duke of York made him suitable returns and parted; 
conjuring him, at the same time, to have a care of Arlington's practices." 
(Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 73, July 17, 1674.) , 



RETIREMENT 243 

this advice is given out of a desire for vengeance, 
rather than for the welfare of your Majesty's service." ^ 
In September, 1674, Arlington carried out a step he 
had long been meditating: he resigned the Secretary- 
ship of State which he had held for twelve years, and 
received instead the white staff of Lord Chamberlain 
of the Household. The change was at once a relief 
and a worry to him. He was tired of the drudgery of 
the secretaryship, which had of late become increas- 
ingly burdensome by reason of his failing health. On 
the other hand, the place of Lord Chamberlain, though 
of greater dignity, would remove him from daily touch 
with foreign affairs, of which he did not propose to 
lose control, and perhaps from that constant inter- 
course with the King which had been the means of his 
success.^ He kept the matter under reflection for two 
years,* hesitating at the last because Williamson, on 
whom he had arranged to devolve the secretaryship, 
now showed signs of defection to the camp of Danby 
and Lauderdale.^ It is possible that he would have 
been glad to withdraw from the bargain, had he not 
been too far engaged ; certainly his friends were rather 
surprised when he actually relinquished the signet. 

"Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 113, ff. 20-21, Aug. 13, 1674, N. S., Ru- 
vigny to Louis XIV. 

' In the summer of 1673 Arlington spoke of the proposed change to 
Colbert, who, in his report to Pomponne, made the comment: " . . . ce 
Ministre espere avec beaucoup de raison que le Roy son Maitre luy con- 
servera la principale direction des affaires." {Ibid., 107, f. 94, July 10, 
1673. N. S. 

^ Williamson, writing to Arlington about the secretaryship on July 10, 
1673, refers to "that great goodnesse your Lordship has been pleased to 
expresse for mee, in the overtures of the last winter to my Lord Chamber- 
lain upon this matter " — which dates the beginning of negotiations for the 
change of place. (State Papers, Archives, 224, p. 171. Copy.) 

^ Essex Papers, I, 236, June 15, 1674, Conway to Essex; ibid., I, 242, 
July 16, 1674, Francis Godolphin to Essex; Evelyn, Diary, July 22, 1674. 



244 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

If the Duke of York fancied that this change would 
make ArHngton less troublesome to him, he was speed- 
ily undeceived. One day in the early autumn, the new 
Lord Chamberlain ventured to suggest to him that the 
Dutch ambassador, Odyke, Lady Arlington's brother, 
was restrained from proposing the marriage of the 
Princess Mary to the Prince of Orange solely by his 
fear of the Duke's displeasure. James responded in a 
fashion that could leave no doubt of his displeasure, 
and Arlington deemed it wise to say no more to him." 
But with the King he succeeded better. Yielding to his 
arguments, Charles agreed to send Arlington to Hol- 
land on a secret mission : he was to sound the Prince 
as to the terms of peace that would content the allies, 
and to discover the nature and aims of certain intrigues 
in Scotland, in which William had apparently been 
dabbling.^ If the Prince seemed disposed to satisfy 
the King in these matters, a hint might be dropped that 
an offer for the hand of the Princess Mary would not 
be unacceptable to the King and the Duke. Out of 
consideration for his brother, whom he forced to give 
his consent to this overture, Charles joined the Earl 
of Ossory with Arlington, and entrusted the more 
delicate topic to him." 

The secret of their going was well kept until the day 
before the party left London, when the Duke of York 
confessed mournfully to Ruvigny that he had been 

10 Arch. AS.. Etr., Angleterre, 113, f. 102, Sept. 24, 1674, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Louis XIV. 

11 It was supposed — not without reason — that the Prince was in cor- 
respondence with a party in Scotland hostile to the Duke of Lauderdale. 
See Lingard's History of England, IX, 254-255, and a confused account 
by Burnet, Own Time, II, 64-65; also, "A Coppy of Mr. Castares ex- 
amination, Oct. 3, '74 "j in^ the Carte MSS., 222, f, 192. 

^ Clarke, James II, I, 501. 



RETIREMENT 245 

obliged to agree to the match/^ The ambassador, who 
had hitherto believed that the purpose of the mission 
was simply to discuss the conditions of peace, sought 
out the King to reproach him with a deceit which could 
not fail to awaken suspicion in the mind of Louis XIV. 
But Ruvigny's anger was mild compared to that of 
Lauderdale and Danby, who now learned of the jour- 
ney for the first time : " The Duke of Lauderdale and 
the Lord Treasurer are exasperated in the highest 
degree because their master has kept this journey a 
secret from them. The latter could not restrain him- 
self from complaining to his master, saying that it was 
very unkind to good and faithful servants to see that a 
man who had ill served him, enjoyed his confidence to 
their prejudice." " Thus assailed, Charles tried to 
please both parties : he would not renounce the embassy, 
but to Arlington's deep disgust, he added Lord Lati- 
mer, the Treasurer's son, to the party .^^ As Latimer 
was given no part in the negotiation, the Lord Chamber- 
lain had no difficulty in recognizing that his mission 
was to report all that went on at the Hague to the 
Treasurer and his colleagues.''^ 

The envoys had no written instructions, and in order 
to convince the world that their journey was entirely 
unofficial, and purely a family affair, the Countess of 
Arlington, her daughter, the little Countess of Euston, 
her brother, Odyke, and her sister, Charlotte of Bever- 

" Mignet, Negociations, TV, 323-324. 

i*Arch. Aflf. Etr., Angleterre, 113, f. 184, Nov. 19, 1674, N. S., Ru- 
vigny to Louis XIV. 

^^ Ibid., 113, f. 200, Nov. 22, 1674, N. S., the same to Pomponne. See 
also Temple's letter to Danby, evidently written in response to a request 
for information as to the nature of the embassy. (Temple, Works, IV, 
60-62, Dec. 4, 1674, N. S.) 

i«Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 113, f. 200, Nov. 22, 1674, N. S., Ru- 
vigny to Pomponne. 



246 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

waert, were of the party. They left London on Novem- 
ber 10, and made a tempestuous voyage to Holland. 
The Prince hastened to the Hague as soon as he heard 
of their arrival, and, eager to learn the extent of their 
errand, displayed the utmost affability, supping every 
night at Odyke's house, where Arlington was lodged. 
The first conference, at which no one was present save 
the Prince and Arlington, consisted chiefly of an inter- 
change of compliments and an agreement to explain 
all grievances that might have interrupted the confi- 
dence properly existing between the King of England 
and his nephew." The Prince consented reluctantly 
to this " battle " as he called it, or esclaircissement as 
Arlington called it, to which the second conference was 
devoted. The Earl's rehearsal of the wrongs which 
had induced his master to enter the war now happily 
ended for England, was received drily enough, but in 
the end the Prince professed himself satisfied. Then 
" in the strain of a governour ", as Burnet says,^' 
particularly annoying to William, Arlington took him 
to task for lending countenance to disaffected men in 
Scotland. The Prince admitted that during the war he 
might have encouraged any proposals likely to lead to 
the withdrawal of England from the French alliance, 
but denied having been drawn into anything of the sort 
since the Treaty of Westminster. When the interview 
ended, Arlington was entirely confident of the Prince's 

"Additional MSS., 32094, f. 325 et seq., Nov. 14/24, 1674, Arlington 
to Charles II. (Copy.) 

18 Own Time, II, 71. The Prince said afterwards to Temple that 
Arlington was arrogant and insolent, as one who deals with a child. 
(Temple, Works, II, 299.) 



RETIREMENT 247 

good-will and docility, and did not realize that he had 
merely exasperated him." 

That same afternoon Arlington received a visit from 
the Grand Pensionary of Holland, Fagel, who had in 
his pocket the project of an offensive and defensive 
alliance between the United Provinces and England, 
with the proviso that it should not apply to the current 
war with France. Arlington was obliged to excuse 
himself from discussing it for lack of power, but he 
did not decline all commerce with the idea, which did 
not displease him. He took a copy of the project home 
with him to England.^" 

In a third conference with the Prince, Arlington en- 
deavored to persuade him of the advisability of accept- 
ing moderate conditions of peace. William finally 
agreed to name terms that he thought would be satis- 
factory to his allies, but they conceded so little to 
France that Arlington could build no hopes upon them, 
though he believed they might be used to extract 
counter-proposals from Ruvigny.''^ 

The Earl of Ossory's negotiation was not so un- 
qualified a success as both he and Arlington had ex- 

^® " Wee are, My Lord of Ossory and myselfe the most deceived men 
in the World, if the Prince bee not in every degree (I ought to say) much 
more desirous of Your Majesties good will and affection then you can bee 
of his duty and zeale to your Person, Government and Service." (Addi- 
tional MSS., 32094, f. 325, Nov. 14/24, 1674, Arlington to Charles II.) 

20 There is a copy of the project in the handwriting of Williamson in 
the Record Office. (Treaty Papers, 48, " Account of the Project as pro- 
posed by Holland to Lord Chamberlain 1674 etc.") The King, under the 
eye of Ruvigny, would have nothing to do with the project, and said 
Arlington had done wrong to accept it. (Mignet, Negociations, IV, 327.) 

21 The Prince suggested as the basis of a treaty that France restore 
Franche Comte to Spain, and exchange Charleroi, Ath, and Oudenarde 
for Aire and St. Omer. Maestricht should be handed over to France after 
the demolition of its fortifications. (Additional MSS., 32094, ff. 329-331, 
Nov. 24-27, 1674, Arlington to Charles II.) Conditions such as these were 
certain to be regarded as insulting by Louis XIV. 



248 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

pected. Ossory was an honest, simple-hearted fellow, 
ill-suited to the diplomacy of that or any other day. 
He did not understand that there was a necessary con- 
nection between his errand and Arlington's, and having 
no written instructions to guide him, transacted the 
affair with soldierly directness. The Prince, by acci- 
dent or design, afforded him an opening by the turn 
he gave the conversation, and Ossory then told him 
that his pretension to the Princess's hand would be well 
received by the King and the Duke of York. But 
William feared that some trap underlay this offer. 
He knew that the Duchess of York was with child at 
the time ; if she bore a son, the Princess Mary would no 
longer be presumptive heir to the crown. He professed 
all imaginable gratitude for so great an honor and the 
liveliest desire to avail himself of it at the earliest 
possible moment, but at present he was so involved in 
affairs relating to the war, that he could not make the 
journey to England to assure himself that his person 
was not displeasing to the Princess. Thus he ad- 
journed the matter so skilfully that Ossory never sus- 
pected the evasion, and always insisted that the Prince 
accepted the proposal with joy.^ 

But the King and his brother understood the mean- 
ing of William's reply without difficulty, and were an- 
noyed that Ossory had gone so far with so little 
encouragement from the Prince.^' This rebuff and the 
meagre results of Arlington's efforts to manage the 
stubborn, reserved young Dutchman, gave the Treas- 
urer and his friends opportunity to condemn the 

22 Carte MSS., 220, f. 472, Nov. 1674, Ossory to the Duke of York; 
Carte, Life of Ormonde, bk. VII, par. 160-166. 

23 Mignet, Negociations, IV, 326. 



RETIREMENT 249 

conduct of the envoys emphatically to the King.'''' 
There was ample time for this, because the return of the 
party was delayed by contrary winds so long that the 
ministers began to suspect that there might be some 
part of the Lord Chamberlain's errand yet concealed 
from them. " Lord Arlington has not yet returned ", 
wrote Ruvigny. " It is impossible that his overlong 
sojourn at the Hague should not give rise to much 
suspicion. The King has declared to me that if he had 
been in his place, he would have returned long ago." '^ 
Evidently Charles was aware that he was slipping into 
the hands of Arlington's enemies. It was not until 
January 6 that the envoys presented themselves at 
Whitehall to kiss the King's hand. 

At first Arlington's credit with his master seemed 
entirely undiminished by his absence and the failure of 
his negotiation at the Hague. Charles was apathetic- 
ally trying to keep the power of the rivals at balance, in 
spite of their mutual hatred, and was carefully impartial 
in the division of his confidence between the Treasurer 
and Lauderdale on one side, and Arlington on the other. 
But it was a difficult program to maintain, for he had no 

^ " The winde being contrary keeps our f rends yet in Holland which 
will vex them the more when they heere how their actions are descanted 
upon by such as wish them lost in his Majesties opinion." (Carte MSS., 
38, f. 226, Dec. 26, 1674, Sir George Lane to Ormonde.) 

25 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 115, G. 20-21, Jan. 10, 1675, N. S., Ru- 
vigny to Pomponne. It is not impossible that Arlington intentionally de- 
layed his departure, hoping to obtain further satisfaction from the Prince 
of Orange, but he must have known that advantage would be taken of his 
absence, and his letters to Williamson sound as if he were anxious to 
return. On the fourth of December, he wrote that the party expected to 
sail at the beginning of the next week (State Papers, Holland, 197, f. 
180) and on the twenty-fifth of that month, he explained that they were 
still detained by contrary winds: " I must this day wish you a merry Xmas, 
and that I my selfe were there to take my share of it, for Wee are suffi- 
ciently weary of this place." (Ibid., 197, f. 273.) 



250 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

help in it from any of the three.'" Arlington, spoiled 
by his long supremacy in the King's regard, could ill 
endure such an arrangement, and his revolt disturbed 
the equilibrium to his own disadvantage. This began 
to appear during the session of Parliament which took 
place in the spring of 1675. In the House of Lords 
Arlington incurred the displeasure of the King by 
holding aloof from the Court party, though he was too 
timid to vote with the opposition led by Shaftesbury.^' 
In the Commons, where he could act less conspicuously, 
through his adherents, he promoted the resolution of a 
second address for the removal of the Duke of Lauder- 
dale, and the introduction of articles of impeachment 
against Danby. " Tis a tryall of skill between Arling- 
ton and Treasurer with the malice of some members 
to either side to lett King see which of them hath best 

28 " Duke, Treasurer and that party made their braggs that they would 
resigne Arlington at his Returne; But King is very kinde to him, and tis 
wonderful! to see him shutt upp in the morning with Arlington severall 
hours, and the same day as many with Duke, Treasurer and Lodder- 
dale". {Essex Papers, I, 286, Jan. 16, 1674/5, W. Harbord to Essex.) 

" but for all Duke, Treasurer, Lodderdale, Ranelagh, and all 

that party, I finde that Arlington keeps his post." (Ibid., I, 287, Jan. 19, 
1674/s, the same to the same.) " Je crois qu'il n'y a jamais eu 
une plus forte haine que celle qui est entre ces trois Ministres ", wrote 
Ruvigny of Danby, Lauderdale, and Arlington. (Arch. Aff. Etr., Angle- 
terre, 115, f. 51, Jan. 21, 1675, to Louis XIV.) 

2T When a motion to thank the King for the speech from the throne was 
contested in the House of Lords, Arlington tried to carry water on both 
shoulders by proposing a modified vote of thanks. But the compromise 
was rejected, and a vote of thanks in the usual form was finally carried. 
" Sa Majeste Britanique m'a paru assez mal satisfaite de la proposition du 
temperament, ne I'imputant toutes fois qu'a la timidite naturelle de son 
Ministre." (.Ibid., 115, f. 204, April 25, 1675, N. S., Ruvigny to Pom- 
ponne.) If the King expressed his displeasure to Arlington, it is not sur- 
prising that he did not participate in the most exciting contest of the 
session over the bill imposing a new test, amounting to an oath of passive 
obedience, on all persons in public employment. The names of all peers 
active on one side or the other are to be found in an anonymous pamphlet 
attributed to Shaftesbury, Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend 
in the Country, London, 1675 (State Tracts). Arlington's name is not 
mentioned at all. 



RETIREMENT 251 

interest ", declared one member. "^^ If this were so, 
Danby proved to have the best interest, for the im- 
peachment failed, and its sole result was to make the 
King angrier with Arlington. Charles began to believe 
that the Chamberlain was in league with a faction of 
the Commons in favor of refusing supply as long as 
Danby was Treasurer, and that he no longer cared how 
the King's business went if he could but work his 
enemy's ruin.^^ This simple conviction accomplished 
at one blow what the logic and persuasions of a suc- 
cession of counsellors — Clarendon, Buckingham, Laud- 
erdale, York, and Danby — had been unable to effect: 
Arlington fell into disgrace. " Sire ", rejoiced Ru- 
vigny, " your Majesty will not be able to believe how 
low the credit of my Lord Arlington has fallen. The 
King speaks to him very little, and when that Minister 
says something to him, it is almost ignored . . . the King 
treats him with such complete indifference that my 
Lord Arlington is greatly dejected by it, and, no longer 
participating in anything, is clearly in a sort of dis- 
grace . . . The abasement of Lord Arlington is the 
cause of the elevation of the Lord Treasurer. He has 
at present the entire confidence of the King." ^^ 

Seeing no prospect of supply, Charles prorogued 
Parliament on the ninth of June, and tried to establish 
— if not peace — at least a truce among the ministers. 
His irritation at Arlington had somewhat evaporated, 
and he was again anxious to reconcile him with the 
now all-powerful Danby. Therefore he appealed to 
Sir William Temple, whom he supposed to be on 

^ Essex Papers, I, 319, April 17, 1675, W. Harbord to Essex. 

2» Charles expressed this opinion to Temple, after the prorogation in 
June, 1675. (Temple, Works, II, 316.) 

so Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 116, ff. 46-47, May 23, 1675, N. S., Ru- 
vigny to Louis XIV. 



252 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

friendly terms with both men, to persuade them to lay 
aside their quarrel, explaining that it had done great 
harm in Parliament. Temple, though he now despised 
Arlington as much as he had once admired him, 
obediently made the attempt. Danby agreed readily to 
a reconciliation, being convinced that he had little to 
fear from the Lord Chamberlain. But Arlington could 
not trust the disinterestedness of Temple whom he 
looked upon as the Treasurer's man, and so answered 
him only with reproaches of ingratitude and disloyalty, 
which that gentleman was not one to endure patiently, 
and so the mediation ended.^^ 

Furious with all the world, Arlington now withdrew 
to the seclusion of Euston, where he spent the summer 
of 1675 drearily enough. But this period of rustica- 
tion, sulking, and gout yielded to a more reasonable 
frame of mind when he returned to town in the first 
week of October. Though he found himself out of 
affairs, he claimed once more his place at Court, and 
dispensed the princely hospitality of Arlington House ^^ 
to his friends, gathering at his board all the lions whose 
roar could be heard in London. He made friends with 
the newly arrived Spanish ambassador, and entertained 
the " pushing, talking, pressing " Van Beuningen who 
was once more the representative of the States. " He 
would join the Devil to ruin an enemy whom he cannot 
endure ", exclaimed Ruvigny.^' The King received 
Arlington with easy kindness, but treated him rather 

2^ Temple, Works, II, 316-317. 

32 Arlington House had been recently built to replace Goring House, 
destroyed by fire in 1674. In 1702 the widowed Countess of Arlington 
sold the place to John Sheffield, marquis of Buckingham, who tore down 
the house and erected the present Buckingham Palace on the site. 
(Wheatley, London Past and Present, II, 130, 566.) 

33 Arch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 117, f. 57, Nov. 4, 1675, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Pomponne. 



RETIREMENT 253 

as an old friend and servant than as a minister, a role to 
which the proud man could not resign himself. " It 
seems that his sojourn of three months in the country 
has somewhat disconcerted him, and that he returns to 
a Court which he no longer understands ... I know 
well that the members of the Council ^* are working to 
deprive him of the confidence of their master, and that 
such a thing may come about in appearance. But I 
am not sure what the real outcome will be, when there 
is so much tenderness for a minister who does not lack 
industry, and who is a good courtier." ^' Thus Ru- 
vigny, and later in the autumn he assured the Marquis 
de Pomponne : " I shall not fail to observe the con- 
duct of my Lord Arlington, who hurls himself at all 
doors in the effort to re-enter affairs.^' ^® 

One of the doors which the Lord Chamberlain at- 
tempted was the King's weakness for beautiful women, 
on which Arlington had experimented in past years. 
Knowing that Louise de la Keroualle, duchess of Ports- 
mouth, would always use her influence to continue his 
exclusion from power, Arlington tried to effect a 
change of mistresses by encouraging the beautiful 
Duchess of Mazarin to come to England." But, though 

3* Ruvigny says conseil, but it is probably the Cabinet, or Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, that he has in mind. 

3SArch. Aff. Etr., Angleterre, 117, f. 29, Oct, 14, 1675, N. S., Ruvigny 
to Pomponne. 

^^ Ibid., 117, f. 92, Nov. 21, 1675, N. S., the same to the same. 

3^ Arlington's participation in this intrigue rests mainly on the testimony 
of Ruvigny, who says that Arlington's ambitious friend, Ralph Montagu, 
who was also in the Duchess of Portsmouth's disfavor, rode ten miles out 
of London to meet the Duchess of Mazarin. " Ce qui est vray est que 
Montaigu agit de son chef, et que si quelqu'un est de sa confidence, c'est 
Mylord Arlington, qui n'est pas mieux que luy dans les bonnes graces de 
la favorite, et qui peut estre voudroient bien tous deux ensemble se 
servir d'un si beau moyen pour la disgracier," {Ibid., 117, f. 132, Jan. 2, 
1676, N. S., Ruvigny to Pomponne.) On Feb. 27, N. S., Ruvigny wrote 



254 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

Charles welcomed the adventurous lady to his Court 
and enjoyed her society, the power of the Duchess of 
Portsmouth was not impaired. 

Another opportunity promised fair in the autumn of 
1677, when the Prince of Orange made a long-deferred 
visit to England. He had written a very friendly letter 
to Arlington informing him of his coming, and assur- 
ing him of his regard.^^ In the mind of the recipient 
this conjured up a pleasant prospect of basking in the 
confidence of the popular Prince, and when William 
joined the Court at Newmarket in October, the Lord 
Chamberlain essayed to establish a sort of proprietor- 
ship over him. But the Prince observed — and perhaps 
had long known — who was first minister of England, 
and he wooed Danby with a graciousness that was 
wormwood to Arlington, and nectar to Sir William 
Temple looking on.'* The Prince was, to be sure, very 
kind to the unhappy man, and with the King and the 
Duke of York honored him by passing a night at 
Euston Plall. He even interested himself in trying to 
end the old feud between Arlington and the Treasurer, 
but, although Danby again showed willingness, Ar- 
lington clung stubbornly to his grudge and would not 
be placated.*" He was very bitter because the Prince's 

again that Arlington was promoting the fortunes of the new beauty. 
{Ibid., 117, f. 204.) Evelyn, supping at the Lord Chamberlain's on Sept. 6 
of this year, met the Duchess of Mazarin there. {Diary, Sept. 6, 1676.) 

3S " I hope to have the Honour of seeing you there, and to dispel those 
Impressions, as my Lord Ossory tells me, some People have made upon 
you, That I was not so much your Friend and Servant as I always have 
been. It will not be long before I shall have an Opportunity to assure you 
to the contrary by word of mouth, desiring you to continue me still in your 
friendship." {Original Letters from King William III, 53, Sept. 20, 
1677, N. S.) 

3^ Temple, Works, II, 431. 

*" Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, new series, IV, 
385, Nov. 13, 1677, Sir Robert Southwell to Ormonde. 



RETIREMENT 255 

marriage to the Duke of York's daughter, which he had 
tried fo bring about three years ago, was suddenly 
resolved while William was in London without con- 
sulting, or even informing him.*^ 

During the year 1678, Arlington's influence at Court 
reached lowest ebb. The Duchess of Cleveland, who 
had been two years in France with her sons, considered 
the moment had come when the match between the 
young Duke of Grafton and Arlington's daughter 
might easily be broken off, and she returned to Eng- 
land for that purpose, though, as one observer said of 
Arlington, " he is so little in favor that it is believed 
that might be done at the distance she keeps." ^ When 
her Grace went back to France again in June, she was 
happy in the belief that all vv^as arranged to her satis- 
faction."^ The marriage service had, of course, been 
performed, but the children were so young at the time 
that it was but a formal betrothal. 

It is not surprising that this was the year when Ar- 
lington's Whigism was most rampant. He was grown, 
writes Temple, " out of all credit and confidence with 
the King, the Duke, and Prince of Orange ; and thereby 
forced to support himself by intrigues with the persons 
most discontented against my Lord Treasurer's Minis- 
try, whose greatness he so much envied ".** This means 
that he acted with Shaftesbury's party through the 
stirring sessions of Parliament that took place in this 
year, and that he watched with joy the impeachment of 
Danby on the charge of criminal correspondence with 

^ Temple, Works, IV, 337, Nov. 1677, Sir William Temple to his 
father. Sir John Temple. 

« Cal. St. P., Dom., 1677-1678, p. 694. 

^ Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Marquis of Bath, II, 162, June 4, 
1678, Henry Savile to the Earl of Rochester. 

^ Temple, Works, II, 492. 



256 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

France, and may have helped his friend Montagu to 
plan it. But the association with this party was purely 
for the sake of ruining the Treasurer, and bespoke no 
approval of the political uses to which Shaftesbury 
turned the pretended Popish Plot, or of the attempt to 
exclude from the succession the Duke of York whom 
he seems now to have preferred to the Prince of 
Orange.*^ When in January, 1679, Charles was finally 
obliged to dismiss his unpopular Treasurer, Arlington 
fell away from the Country Party, and never after- 
wards interested himself in its designs, though the 
continuance of his friendship with Shaftesbury caused 
him to be looked upon as of the same political per- 
suasion.*^ 

The fall of Danby did not throw the control of af- 
fairs into Arlington's hands as the latter had hoped; 
indeed, he had no more power than before, but he could 
bear it now that his enemy was in worse case. The 
King was kind to him again, and in November, 1679, 
gratified the dearest wish of his heart by commanding 
the remarriage of the Duke of Grafton to the Lady 
Isabella Bennet. She was still but a child-bride, being 
but twelve years old. Her devoted admirer. Sir John 
Evelyn, was no more reconciled to the match than he 
had been seven years ago : " A sudden and unexpected 

*5 York had quarreled with Danby in 1675 over the latter's design to 
obtain money from Parliament by showing great severity towards Catho- 
lics. Since then James had treated Arlington with more amiability, though 
he trusted him no more than before. (See Essex Papers, I, 289, Jan. 23, 
1674/s, W. Harbord to Essex; Burnet, Own Time, II, yz-) The Earl of 
Ailesbury, who had a personal reason for disliking Arlington, and says 
much against him, still admits: "... to do him justice, I believe he 
then stood firm to his Royal Highness as to the succession." {Memoirs, 
I, 41.) 

^ The Earl of Dartmouth, in his notes to Burnet's Own Time, says of 
Arlington that he always professed himself of the Whig party. {Own 
Time, I, 181, footnote i.) 



RETIREMENT 257 

thing ", he wrote, " when everybody beheved the first 
marriage would have come to nothing ; but, the meas- 
ure being determined, I was privately invited by my 
Lady, her mother, to be present. I confess I could give 
her little joy, and so I plainly told her, but she said the 
King would have it so, and there was no going back. 
This sweetest, hopefullest, most beautiful child, and 
most virtuous too, was sacrificed to a boy that had been 
rudely bred, without anything to encourage them but 
his Majesty's pleasure. I pray the sweet child find it 
to her advantage, who, if my augury deceive me not, 
will in few years be such a paragon, as were fit to make 
the wife of the greatest Prince in Europe ! . . . My love 
to my Lord Arlington's family and the sweet child 
made me behold all this with regret, though as the 
Duke of Grafton affects the sea, to which I find his 
father intends to use him, he may emerge a plain, use- 
ful and robust officer; and, were he polished, a toler- 
able person; for he is exceeding handsome, by far 
surpassing any of the King's other natural issue." *^ 

This satisfied Arlington's ambition, and thereafter 
he contented himself with the dignity of his place and 
a nominal participation in the King's counsels. 
''' Hitherto ", wrote Sir Robert Southwell to Ormonde, 
" my Lord Chamberlain makes no progress, and while 
he has still enemies in power he is very well contented 
that they will let him alone with his staff." ^^ In years 
he was not an old man, but like many others whose 
lives were spent in the Court of the Restoration, he 
was early worn out. He was more interested in his 

*' Evelyn, Diary, Nov. 6, 1679. 

^ Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, new series, IV, 
504, April 19, 1679, Sir Robert Southwell to Ormonde. 
18 



258 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

collection of pictures, in the hawks that Ormonde sent 
him from Ireland, in the milk diet as a cure for the 
gout, than in all the worries and disputes that absorbed 
the Council. He spent as much time as he could in the 
quiet of Euston, and took pleasure in adorning and 
perfecting his estate that it might descend in order and 
beauty to the Duchess of Grafton. His tenants were 
well cared for; his servants contented. In place of the 
deca3^ed church he had found on the estate, he sub 
stituted one of stone, because, as he told Evelyn, " his 
heart smote him that, after he had bestowed so much 
on his magnificent palace there, he should see God's 
House in the ruine it lay in "."^ He could not wholly 
divest himself of his manner of patronage even when 
considering the case of the Almighty God. His debts 
worried him a little, but not greatly. When he was too 
gouty to hunt or hawk with his guests, or the time hung 
heavy on his hands, he had Milton's nephew, Edward 
Phillips, read to him in the great library at Euston.^" 

Arlington's neutrality in the political struggle for the 
exclusion of the Duke of York from the succession, 
gave him a peculiar position among the disputants in 
the latter years of Charles's reign. It was in the garden 
of Arlington House that the Duke of Monmouth took 
leave of his father when he was sent abroad.^^ The 
Prince of Orange spent two nights under the Lord 
Chamberlain's roof when he came to England in i68i.'^ 
The following year, when the Duke of York returned 
from his exile in Scotland, it was at Arlington House 

*9 Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 9, 1677. 

50 Ibid., Sept. 18, 1677. 

51 Hist. MSS. Comm., 7th Report, p. 475, MSS. of Sir H. Verney, Bart, 
Sept. 29, 1679, John Verney to Sir R. Verney. 

^^ Id., MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, new series, VI, 113, July 30, 
1 68 1, R. Mulys to . 



RETIREMENT 259 

that he found the King and Queen awaiting him.'" A 
story was current that when Parliament met at Oxford 
in 1 68 1, and an exclusion bill was again brought into 
the House, the King called Shaftesbury to him, and 
proposed that the Earl with two of his party join him 
in a conference, at which the King would likewise have 
two advisers, for the purpose of discovering whether 
some compromise acceptable to both might not be 
evolved. " My Lord Shaftesbury accepted the motion 
and desired to know the place which the King would 
needs refer to him, who thereupon said that he thought 
no place fitter than my Lord Chamberlain's lodgings. 
The King asked why there above all other places, and 
was answered, first, that it was the most indifferent 
place in the world, because my Lord Chamberlain was 
neither good Protestant nor good Catholic; and next, 
because there was the best wine, which was the only 
good thing that could be had from their meeting." ^ 

When, later in the same year, Shaftesbury found 
himself a prisoner in the Tower, it was to Arlington 
that he turned as his " particular friend " to present a 
petition for his liberation and permission to betake him- 
self to his plantation in Carolina. To the surprise of 
the Court, Arlington undertook this office : " The 
politicians of the coffee-houses discourse variously of 
this matter and those who love my Lord Chamberlain 
fear this may be his ruin, and will subject him to the 
revenge of the Duke of York and Ministers, without 

^^ Id., MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch, I, zZ7y May 27, 1682, Lord 
Hunsdon to the Duke of Albemarle. 

^* Id., MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, new series, VI, 6-7, March 25, 
1 68 1, Col. Edward Cooke to Ormonde. 



26o THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

whose knowledge he did it." '^ But, perhaps because 
the petition was refused, James cherished no resent- 
ment. 

The last five years of Arlington's life were serene, 
old-man's years. In 1680 the Earl of Ossory died, a 
loss that touched Arlington as no death before had 
ever touched him. In 1683, a son and heir was born to 
the Duchess of Grafton, " which Lord Arlington is 
so joy'd with that some says he will smother itt with 
kisses ".'** In 1685 occurred the King's death, a shock 
and sorrow to his old servant, who did not long survive 
him. James II had at once confirmed to Arlington the 
white staff of Lord Chamberlain," and he seems to have 
participated in the ceremonies of the coronation. In 
the journals of the House of Lords, it is recorded that 
the Earl of Arlington took the Oaths of Supremacy 
and Allegiance, and subscribed to the Declaration on 

^^ Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, new series, 
VI, 188, Oct. II, 1 68 1, Earl of Longford to Ormonde. See also, Christie, 
Life of Shaftesbury, II, 419; Macpherson, Original Papers, I, 128-129. 

E» Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report, part V, p. 81, MSS. of the Duke of 
Rutland, Nov. 6, 1683, G. Lady Chaworth to her brother, the Earl of 
Rutland. This child, Charles, the only issue of the marriage, became the 
second Duke of Grafton, from whom the present Duke is directly de- 
scended. The first Duke of Grafton, who seems to have been no more 
admirable than Evelyn fancied him, was among the first of the English 
nobility to join the Prince of Orange in 1688. He died in 1690, and his 
widow married again in 1698, Sir Thomas Hanmer. As Countess of 
Arlington in her own right, she was present at the coronation of George I. 
(Cokayne, Complete Peerage, Arlington title.) She seems to have been a 
person of rare virtue and sweetness, according to the following eulogy by 
her cousin, John Hervey, Lord Bristol : " Thursday, the beautiful Duchess 
of Grafton dyed at London; in justice to whose memory I can strictly 
averr, that in above fourty years time that I had the honour and happiness 
of her acquaintance, I never heard her say anything of any absent person, 
which, had they been present, they could have been in the least offended 
at." (Quoted from Lord Bristol's Diary, Feb. 7, 1723, in the Little 
Saxham Parish Registers, 176.) 

"Evelyn, Diary, Feb. 17, 1685. 



RETIREMENT 261 

May 23.°^ He attended the debates regularly until the 
Houses adjourned on July 2, shortly after which he fell 
ill at Arlington House. 

When he knew that there was no hope of recovery, 
he begged those around him to fetch a priest, and when 
they hesitated in astonishment, he repeated his wish, 
but, with a touch of his old caution, added : " Yet I 
will not have it knowne untill I am dead." So the priest 
was brought; the Earl confessed his sins as he knew 
them and was absolved. That same night, July 25, he 
died.''' 

The news of his conversion produced the sensation 
which Arlington had been glad to escape from the world 
without witnessing. The old rumor of his being at 
heart a Catholic had almost died out, and he had taken 
the Test with business-like regularity in the reign of 
Charles as well as in the present. Public opinion, with 
unbecoming flippancy, declared that he died a Roman 
Catholic to make his court to King James.^° The King 
admitted to Pepys that, as to Arlington's inclinations, 
" he had known them long wavering, but from fear of 
losing his place, he did not think it convenient to de- 
clare himself."^ Roger North is perhaps nearest the 
truth when he surmises that Arlington became terrified 
in the hour of death — for dying, as North says, is no 
Court trick — and longed for the visible, palpable sym- 
bols of forgiveness and reconciliation which the Church 
of Rome affords.^^ And yet, because he was a man 

^ Lords' Journal, May 23, 1685. 

5* Autobiography of Sir John Bramston, 204. 

«o Burnet, Own Time, I, 181, footnote i (by the Earl of Dartmouth.) 

^ Pepys repeated this to Evelyn, who records it in his diary, Oct. 2, 1685. 

** North, Examen, 29. 



262 THE EARL OF ARLINGTON 

capable of living in entire detachment from his own 
beliefs and principles, the old story that had its origin 
at Fuentarabia may be right after all. Arlington's con- 
science could have accommodated itself easily to the 
necessity of bowing in the House of Rimmon, though 
for a lifetime. 



J 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
PRINTED MATERIALS. 

Ailesbury, see Bruce, Thomas. 

Arlington, see Bebington, T. 

Bate, F., The Declaration of Indulgence. 1672. A Study in the 
Rise of Organised Dissent, London, 1908. Explains the 
circumstances and results of the Declaration of 1662, 
penned by Bennet. 

Beatson, R., A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain 
and Ireland, 3 vols., London, 1806. Chiefly useful to this 
study for its discussion of the office of Secretary of State. 

Bebington, T., The Right Honourable the Earl of Arlington's 
Letters to Sir W. Temple, Bart. (vol. I), and to the several 
Ambassadors to Spain (vol. II), 2 vols., London, 1701. 
Cited as Arlington's Letters. Purely official letters, and 
very uncommunicative, but of value in connection with 
Dutch and Spanish affairs. 

Birch, Thomas, The Court and Times of James the First, 2 
vols., London, 1848. Contains letters referring to Arling- 
ton's grandfather. Sir John Bennet. 

Blok, P. J., History of the People of the Netherlands, trans- 
lated by Ruth Putnam and O. A. Bierstadt, 5 vols., New 
York and London, 1898-1912. Of value for the study of 
England's relations with the Dutch. 

Boase, C. W., Oxford (Historic Towns Series), London, 1887. 

Bramston, Sir John, Autobiography of, edited by Lord Bray- 
brooke (Camden Society), London, 1845. Contains an 
account of the circumstances of Arlington's death. 

Brown, Thomas, Miscellanea Aulica, or a Collection of State 
Treatises, never before publish'd, London, 1702. Contains 
a great deal of information about Bennet's career previous 
to the Restoration, in letters addressed to him by Charles 
II and by Abraham Cowley ; also some letters from Bennet 
to the Duke of Ormonde after the former became Secre- 
tary of State, chiefly about Irish affairs, and not very useful 
for this study. 

263 



264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[Bruce], Thomas, Earl of Ailesbury, Memoirs of, edited by 
H. H. Gibbs (Roxburghe Club), 2 vols., Westminster, 
1890. Ailesbury had a personal grudge against Arlington, 
and is not a very reliable witness in his respect. 

Burghclere, see Gardner, Winifred. 

Burnet, Gilbert, History of my Own Time, edited by Osmund 
Airy, 2 vols., Oxford, 1897-1900. Useful more for its ob- 
servations on Arlington's character and conduct, than for 
its facts, which are considerably jumbled. 

Carte, Thomas, The Life of James Duke of Ormonde . . . 
with an Appendix and a Collection of Letters, serving to 
verify the most material facts in the said History, 6 vols., 
Oxford, 1851. Useful as to Arlington's relations with the 
Duke of Ormonde and the Earl of Ossory. 

A Collection of Original Letters and Papers Concerning 

the Affairs of England, from the Year 1641 to 1660, 
Found among the Duke of Ormonde's Papers, 2 vols., Lon- 
don, 1739. Contains a very little information about Bennet. 

Cartwright, Julia (Mrs. Ady), Madame, A Life of Henrietta, 
Daughter of Charles I, and Duchess of Orleans, London, 
1894. Contains letters from Charles II and one from 
Arlington to the Duchess of Orleans, which help to explain 
Arlington's conduct in 1669-1670. 

[Charles II], His Majesties Declaration to All His loving Sub- 
jects, Dec. 26, 1662. Printed by John Bill and Christopher 
Barker, London, 1662. This is the Declaration of (pro- 
spective) Indulgence written by Bennet. It represents his 
political theories at that date. 

Christie, W. D., A Life of Anthony Ashley Cooper, First Earl 
of Shaftesbury, 2 vols., London, 1871. Valuable for the 
period of the Cabal, but written in a spirit very partial to 
Shaftesbury. 

Clarendon, The Life of Edward, Earl of, in which is included 
a Continuation of his History of the Grand Rebellion, 2 
vols., Oxford, 1857. Clarendon has much to say of Ben- 
net, particularly between the years 1660-1667, but he is too 
embittered to be a good witness. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 

Clarendon, State Papers collected by Edward, Earl of, 3 vols., 
Oxford, 1767-1786. Contains several letters written by 
Bennet from Spain previous to the Restoration. In the 
Supplement to vol. Ill is Clarendon's " Character of Sir 
Henry Bennet", very hostile to the subject. 

Clarendon State Papers, Calendar of the, edited by O. Ogle, 
W. H. Bliss, and W. D. Macray, under the direction of 
H. O. Coxe, 3 vols., Oxford, 1872-1876. The Calendar has 
progressed no further than 1657, but affords some informa- 
tion about Bennet during his secretaryship to the Duke of 
York. 

Clarke, J. S., The Life of James II, 2 vols., London, 1816. The 
Duke of York had a long acquaintance with Bennet, but he 
is prejudiced, not only by his dislike of Bennet's person- 
ality, but also by his own narrow and bigoted nature. 

Cobbett, William, Parliamentary History of England from the 
Norman Conquest in 1066 to the Year 1803, 36 vols., Lon- 
don, 1806-1820. The fourth volume is the only one used 
in the preparation of this essay. 

Cokayne, G. E., Complete Peerage, London, 1910. 

Mr. Coleman's Two Letters to Monsieur VChaise, London, 
1678. Testifies to the detestation in which Roman Catholics 
held Arlington. 

Coronae Carolinae Quadratura, sive Perpetuandi Imperii Caro- 
lini ex Quarto Pignore F elicit er Suscepto, Oxford, 1638. 
Oxford verse, including a poem written by Bennet when a 
student in the University. 

Courtenay, T. P., Memoirs of the Life, Works and Corre- 
spondence of Sir William Temple, Bart., 2 vols., London, 
1836. Particularly valuable for Arlington's connection 
with the conception of the Triple Alliance. 

Dalrymple, Sir John, Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, 
2 vols., with a third containing the Appendix, Edinburgh, 
1771-1788. The Appendix consists of letters from the sev- 
eral French ambassadors in England to the French Court, 
and some of the letters of Charles II to the Duchess of 
Orleans. This publication has been largely superseded by 
Mignet's ampler one, but the two do not cover precisely the 
same ground. 



266 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Death Repeal'd by a Thankful Memoriall Sent from Christ- 
Church in Oxford, Celebrating the Noble Deserts of the 
Right Honourable Paule, Late Lord Vis-Count Bayning of 
Sudbury, etc., Oxford, 1638. Oxford verse, including a 
poem written by Bennet when a student in the University. 

Dictionary of National Biography, The. 

Essex Papers, 16/2-16/Q, edited by Osmund Airy (Camden 
Society), London, 1890. These are intelligence letters 
written to the Earl of Essex, lord lieutenant of Ireland, 
by various correspondents. They contain much valuable 
information about factions at Court and in the ministry in 
the later years of Arlington's secretaryship. 

D'Estrades, Lettres, M'emoires et Negociations de Monsieur le 
Comte, 9 vols., London, 1743. D'Estrades was Louis XIV's 
ambassador in England in 1660-1662, and his despatches re- 
flect Bennet's rise to power. 

Evelyn, Sir John, Diary and Correspondence of, edited by Wil- 
liam Bray, 4 vols., London, 1850-1852. Evelyn was one of 
Arlington's few warm friends. He knew nothing of his 
political conduct, but a good deal of his social qualities. 

Flos Britannicus Veris Novissimi Filiola Carolo et Mariae 
Nata XV n Martii, Anno 1636, Oxford, 1637. Oxford 
verse, including a poem written by Bennet when a student 
in the University. 

Forneron, H., Louise de Keroualle, Duchesse de Portsmouth, 
Paris, 1886. Contains the story of Arlington's promotion 
of this favorite. 

Foster, Joseph, Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714, Oxford, 1891. 
Contains the main facts of Bennet's life, and of the lives of 
several of his kindred. 

— Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1881 {Col- 
lectanea Genealogica), London, 1883. Miscellaneous 
information about Bennet's kindred, several of whom were 
members of Gra3'''s Inn. 

Foxcroft, H. C, The Life and Letters of Sir George Savile, 
Bart., First Marquis of Halifax, 2 vols., London, 1898. 
Contains a thorough account of the mission of Bucking- 
ham and Arlington to Holland in 1672. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 

Fruin, Robert, Verspreide Geschriften, edited by P. J. Blok, 
P. L. Muller, and S. Muller, 10 vols., the Hague, 1900-1905. 
In vol. IV, p. 338, is an article entitled " Willem III en zijn 
geheime Onderhandelingen met Karel II van Engeland in 
1672 ", which supplements the English material on this sub- 
ject in the Record Office at London, 

Gardiner, Samuel Rawson, History of the Great Civil War, 
1642-1649, 4 vols., London, 1893. Used for the background 
of Bennet's life during the War. 

Gardner, Winifred, Lady Burghclere, George Villiers, Second 
Duke of Buckingham, 1628-168/, London, 1903. This book 
avoids politics as much as possible, and so has little value 
for this study. 

Grammont, see Hamilton. 

Green, M. A. E., Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria, London, 
1857. Bennet is alluded to only twice in these letters. 

Grey, Anchitell, Debates of the House of Commons, from the 
Year 166'/ to the Year 1694, 10 vols., London, 1769. Besides 
furnishing an abstract of the proceedings of the House of 
Commons, the Debates contain much information about 
Arlington personally and politically. 

Hamilton, A., Memoirs of the Court of Charles II by Count 
Grammont, edited by Sir Walter Scott (Bohn edition), 
London, 1891. Contains a somewhat malicious sketch of 
Arlington. 

Hatton, Correspondence of the Family of, A. D. 1601-1704, 
edited by E. iM. Thompson (Camden Society), 2 vols., Lon- 
don, 1878. These letters afford some miscellaneous in- 
formation about Arlington from men who knew him well. 

Historical Manuscripts Commission. 
5th Report, MSS. of the Duke of Sutherland. 
7th Report, MSS. of Sir H. Verney, Bart. 
nth Report, MSS. of the Duke of Leeds. 
I2th Report, MSS. of the Duke of Rutland. 
13th Report, MSS. of Sir W. Fitzherbert, Bart.; MSS. of 

Lieut.-Gen. Lyttelton-Annesley. 
15th Report, MSS. of J. E. Hodgkin. 



268 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Report on the MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queens- 
berry, preserved at Montagu House, Whitehall, 3 vols. 
•Calendar of the MSS. of the Marquis of Ormonde, pre- 
served at Kilkenny Castle, new series, 7 vols. 
Calendar of the MSS. of the Marquis of Bath, preserved 
at Longleat, 3 vols. 
A series of letters to Arlington from Ralph Montagu 
when he was ambassador to France, which are printed 
with the (Montagu House Papers, are of some assist- 
ance to this study. The Ormonde MSS. are full of 
information about Arlington, and particularly valuable 
for the latter part of his life. The other Reports above 
mentioned contain but a few miscellaneous facts avail- 
able for this study. 
Hop, Cornelis, and Vivien, Nicholaas, Notulen gehouden ter 
Staten-V ergadering van Holland {1671-1675), edited by 
N. Japikse, Amsterdam, 1903. Supplements the English 
accounts of the mission of Buckingham and Arlington to 
Holland in 1672. 
Horti Carolini Rosa Altera, Oxford, 1640. Oxford verse, in- 
cluding a poem written by Bennet when a student in the 
University. 
Japikse, N., De Verwikkelingen tusschen de Republiek en 
Engeland van 1660-1665, Leiden, 1900. A comprehensive 
study of Anglo-Dutch relations previous to the outbreak 
of the war in 1665. 
Journal of the House of Commons. 
Journal of the House of Lords. 

Jusserand, J. J., A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles 
the Second, London, 1892. This book, which is based on 
the despatches of the Count de Comenge, deals with the 
society, rather than with the politics, of the English Court, 
and so is of little value for this study. 
Kennet, White, A Complete History of England, vol. Ill, Lon- 
don, 1706. Contains a muddled story about Bennet at 
Fuentarabia. 

A Register and Chronicle, Ecclesiastical and Civil, from 

the Restoration of King Charles II, London, 1728. Of 
very slight value for this study. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 

Killigrew, Thomas, The Prisoners and Claracilla, Two Tragae- 
Comedies, London, 1641. Contains a prefatory poem by 
Bennet. 

Lefevre-Pontalis, A., John de Witt . . . or Twenty Years of a 
Parliamentary Republic, translated by S. E. and A. Ste- 
phenson, 2 vols., London, 1885. Contributes to an under- 
standing of Anglo-Dutch relations during Arlington's 
secretaryship. 

Lingard, John, The History of England from the First Invasion 
by the Romans to the Accession of William and Mary in 
1688, 10 vols., London, 1849. Used for the general back- 
ground of the reign of Charles IL 

Lister, T. H., Life and Administration of Edward, First Earl 
of Clarendon, 3 vols., London, 1837-1838. In the third 
volume several important letters from Bennet to Ormonde, 
taken from the Carte MSS., are printed. 

Little, Francis, A Monument of Christian Munificence, edited 
by C. D. Cobham, Oxford and London, 1871. Affords a 
little information about Bennet's family. 

/Little Saxham Parish Registers, 1559-1850, edited by S. H. 
V A. H., Woodbridge, 1901. The entry of Bennet's baptism 

is given together with much information about his mother's 
family. 

Longin, E., Un Diplomate Franc-Comtois, Frangois de Lisola, 
Dole, 1900. Explains the position of the Imperial envoy 
at the time of the formation of the Triple Alliance. 

Lysons, Daniel, An Historical Account of those Parishes which 
are not described in the Environs of London, London, 
1800. Contains information about the parish of Harlington, 
and about the Bennets' connection with it. 

Macpherson, James, Original Papers Containing the Secret 
History of Great Britain from the Restoration to the Ac- 
cession of Hannover, 2 vols., London, 1775. The first 
volume contains Extracts from the Life of James II as 
Written by Himself, in which Arlington is frequently men- 
tioned. 



270 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Madan, Falconer, Oxford Books, a Bibliography of Printed 
Works Relating to the University and City of Oxford or 
Printed or Published there, vol. II, Oxford, 1912. 
Through this book I was able to find the poems written by 
Bennet while he was a student in the University. 

Magalotti, Lorenzo, Travels of Cosmo the Third, Grand Duke 
of Tuscany, through England, during the Reign of King 
Charles the Second {1669), London, 1821. Arlington was 
one of the Duke's entertainers, and is several times men- 
tioned in this account. 

Marvell, Andrew, The Complete Works of, edited by A. B. 
Grosart, 4 vols., London, 1875. Marvell was a political 
opponent of Arlington, and is always very savage in his 
criticisms of the Secretary of State. 

Mavidal, J., Memoires du Marquis de Pomponne, Ministre 
et Secretaire d'Etat au Departement des Affaires Etran- 
geres, Paris, i860. Not of very much importance for this 
study. 

Mazarin, Lettres du Cardinal, ou Von voit le Secret de la Nego- 
ciation de la Paix des Pirenees, 2 vols., Amsterdam, 1745. 
Contains a little interesting information about Bennet when 
he was at Fuentarabia. 

Mignet, F. A. M., Negociations relatives a la Succession d'Es- 
pagne sous Louis XIV, 4 vols., Paris, 1835-1842. Many of 
the despatches of the French ambassadors in England are 
printed in this work, and furnish very important informa- 
tion about Arlington, particularly in connection with for- 
eign affairs. 

Miscellanea Aulica, see Brown, Thomas. 

Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, edited by J. J. Howard, 
new series, vol. Ill, London, 1880. Affords some informa- 
tion about the family of Bennet's mother. 

Musarum Oxoniensium Charisteria pro Serenissima Regina 
Maria Recens e Nixus Laboriosi Discrimine recepta, Ox- 
ford, 1838. Oxford verse, including a poem written by 
Bennet when a student in the University. 

Nicholas Papers, The, edited by G. F. Warner (Camden So- 
ciety), 3 vols., London, 1886-1897. Throws some light on 
Bennet's career previous to the Restoration. 



J 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 

North, Roger, Examen, or an Enquiry into the Credit and 
Veracity of a Pretended Complete History, London, 1740. 
Of very slight value for a biography of Arlington. 

Parliament, Return of the Names of every Member returned 
to, 12 1 3- 188 5, 4 vols., London, 1878- 1891. 

Pepys, Samuel, The Diary of, edited by H. B. Wheatley, 9 vols., 
London, 1904. Contains much social and political gossip 
about Arlington and the other ministers of his time. 

Perzvich, William, English Agent in Paris, The Dispatches of, 
1669-1677, edited by M. B. Curran (Royal Historical So- 
ciety), London, 1903. Of very slight use for this biography. 

Pontalis, see Lefevre-Pontalis. 

Pribram, A. F., Franz Paul, Freiherr von Lisola, 1613-1674, und 
die Politik seiner Zeit, Leipzig, 1894. Enlightening for the 
negotiations preceding the formation of the Triple Alliance. 

nPOTEAEIA Anglo-Batava, Pari plusqudm Virgineo Gu- 
lielmo Arausii et Mariae Britanniarum Academia Oxoni- 
ensi Procurante, Oxford, 1641. Oxford verse, including 
a poem written by Bennet when a student in the University. 

Rememhrancia, Analytical Index to the Series of Records 
known as the, Preserved among the Archives of the City of 
London. A. D. 1579-1664, London, 1878. Furnishes some 
facts about Bennet's family. 

Shaw, William A., The Knights of England, 2 vols., London, 
1906. 

Sheffield, John, The Works of lohn Sheffield, Earl of Mul- 
grave. Marquis of Normanhy, and Duke of Buckingham, 
2 vols., London, 1740. Contains a favorable sketch of Ben- 
net's life and character. 

State Papers, Domestic, Calendar of the, 1660-1685. Exception- 
ally informative about Bennet because of his office of 
Secretary of .State. 

State Tracts, Being a Collection of Several Treatises relating 
to the Government Privately Printed in the Reign of King 
Charles II, London, 1693. Political pamphlets offering 
some interesting criticisms of the government. 



272 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Symonds, Richard, Diary of the marches kept by the Royal 
Army during the Great Civil War; kept by, edited by C. 
E. Long (Camden Society), London, 1859. Affords in- 
formation regarding the skirmish at Andover in which 
Bennet participated. 

Taafe, Memoirs of the Family of (privately printed), Vienna, 
1856. Contains the correspondence of Arlington with the 
Earl of Carlingford, English envoy at Vienna. Of value 
for an understanding of foreign affairs in 1665-1666. 

Temple, Sir William, Bart., The Works of, 4 vols., London, 
1814. Essential to an understanding of Arlington's diplo- 
macy. The memoirs are very bitter in tone where he is 
concerned. 

Thornbury, Walter, Old London and New, 6 vols., London, 
1873-1878. 

Thurloe, lohn, Esq., A Collection of the State Papers of, pub- 
lished by Thomas Birch, 7 vols., London, 1742. Contains a 
few letters from Bennet to Charles II, written during the 
Exile. 

Treasury Books, Calendar of the, 1660-1685. Of minor impor- 
tance for this study. 

Villiers, George, The Works of His Grace, George VilUers, 
Duke of Buckingham, 2 vols., London, 1775. Contains a 
satiric poem about Arlington. 

Walker, Sir Edward, Historical Discourses upon Several Oc- 
casions, London, 1705. Contains an account of the skirmish 
at Andover in which Bennet participated. 

Welch, Joseph, A List of Scholars of St. Peter's College, West- 
minster, London, 1788. Incomplete for the period when 
Bennet was a scholar. 

Wheatley, H. B., London Past and Present, 3 vols., London, 
1891. 

Wicquefort, Abraham de, Histoire des P r ovine es-Unies des 
Pais Bas, depuis le parfait Etablissement de cet Etat par 
la Paix de Munster, edited by M. L. Ed. Lenting and C. A. 
Chais Van Buren, 4 vols., Amsterdam, 1861-1874. Affords 
reliable and valuable information about the embassy of 
Buckingham and Arlington to the Hague in 1672. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 

[William III], Original Letters from King William III, then 
Prince of Orange, to King Charles II, Lord Arlington, etc, 
London, 1704. Enlightening as to Arlington's relations 
with the Prince, but otherwise of no particular value. 

Williamson, Sir Joseph, Letters addressed to, while Plenipo- 
tentiary at the Congress of Cologne in 16/3 and 1674, 
edited by W. D. Christie (Camden Society), 2 vols., Lon- 
don, 1874. These are intelligence letters giving Williamson 
all the English news. Of much value for the story of the 
attempted impeachment of Arlington. 

Wood, Anthony a, Athenae Oxonienses, to which are added 
The Fasti, or Annals of the said University, edited by 
Philip Bliss, 4 vols., London, 1813-1820. The Fasti contain 
a sketch of Arlington's career. 

The History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls 

in the University of Oxford, edited and continued to the 
present time by John Gutch, Oxford, 1786. Used in con- 
nection with Bennet's University career. 

The History and Antiquities of the University of Ox- 



ford, edited by John Gutch, 2 vols., Oxford, 1792-1796. 
Used in connection with Bennet's University career. 
Woolsey, T. D., Introduction to the Study of International 
Law, New York, 1879. Explains the practice of belligerent 
powers in regard to neutral commerce in the seventeenth 
century. 

PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 

Digby, H. M., " George Digby, Earl of Bristol ", the Ancestor, 
XI, 71. A brief sketch of the career of Bennet's first 
patron. 

Hora Siccama, J., " Sir Gabriel de Sylvius ", Revue d'Histoire 
Diplomatique, XIV, 598. A biography, including an ac- 
count of Sylvius's connection with Arlington and with 
Buat. 

Hughes, Charles, " Nicholas Faunt's Discourse touching the 
Office of Principal Secretary of Estate, etc., 1592", Eng- 
lish Historical Review, XX, 499. A description of the 
duties of the Secretary of State in the time of Elizabeth. 
19 



274 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Japlkse, N,, and Del Court, W., " Brieven van Sylvius en Buat ", 
Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genoot- 
schap, XXVII, 536. Contains the letters written to Arling- 
ton in regard to Buat's negotiation with the Orange party 
in 1666. 



UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS. 

Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, Paris. Correspondance Po- 
litique, Angleterre, 75-117. The despatches of the French 
ambassadors give so minute and careful an account of all 
that went on both in politics and in Court intrigue, that 
their value cannot well be overrated. iMuch of this mate- 
rial has already been published by Dalrymple and Mignet, 
but much is still unprinted that is of importance for this 
reign. 

Bodleian Library, Oxford. 

Ashmole MSS., 807. Contains an account of the speeches of 
Buckingham in the House of Commons in 1674. 

Carte MSS. These include a great many letters from Arling- 
ton to the Duke of Ormonde, the most intimate he ever 
wrote. 

Clarendon MSS. Include a practically complete series of 
letters written by Bennet to Hyde during the former's so- 
journ in Spain. 

Rawlinson MSS., A. 429; A. 40. Afford some information 
about Bennet's family. 

British Museum, London. 

Additional iMSS., 18981 ; 22920; 25123; 28045; 32094; 34342. 
Letters containing miscellaneous information about Ar- 
lington. 

Egerton MSS., 812. Copies of the despatches of the French 
ambassadors in England during the year 1665. 

Egerton MSS., 2543. Copy of the patent which was to have 
created Bennet Lord Cheney. 

Parish Registers of Harlington, Middlesex, containing entries 
of births and deaths in the Bennet family. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 

Public Record Office, London. 
State Papers, Domestic, Interregnum, 497; A. 12; A. 22; 

A. 61; A. 155. These MSS. furnish some information 

about Bennet's father. 
State Papers, Domestic, Charles II, 235, f. 140. A letter from 

Lord Conway to Sir J. Finch about Arlington. 
State Papers, Domestic, Charles II, 231, Williamson's Diary. 
State Papers, Domestic, Charles II, 319 A. Williamson's 

Diary. 
State Papers, Foreign. 

Archives, loo-ioi ; 221-224. Contain copies of several let- 
ters from Arlington to the English ambassadors at 
Cologne. 

Flanders, 12. Contains the despatches of Bennet's grand- 
father. Sir John Bennet, written in the course of his 
embassy to Flanders in 1617. 

France, 1 15-149. Letters from the English ambassadors in 
France to the Secretaries of State, intelligence letters, 
and a few memoranda of French negotiations at London. 

Holland, 163-219. Letters from the English ambassadors 
at the Hague to the Secretaries of State. Miscellaneous 
papers. 

Spain, 43-71. Letters from the English ambassadors at 
Madrid to the Secretaries of State. Miscellaneous 
papers. 

Foreign Entry Books, 176-180. Minutes, mostly by Wil- 
liamson, of the deliberations of the Committee of For- 
eign Affairs. Of great value in determining the opinions 
of the various Ministers on matters of foreign and 
domestic policy, particularly during the years 1668- 1674. 

Treaty Papers, 48. Sundry memoranda in regard to nego- 
tiations with the Dutch. 
Privy Council Office, Whitehall. Registers of the Privy Coun- 
cil, 1660-1685. Meagre in information and of no particular 

value for this study. 



INDEX. 



Abingdon, i n. 

Ailesbury, Thomas Bruce, Earl of, 

i8 n., 256 n. 
Aire, 247 n. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, con- 
cluded, 143; guaranteed, 143, 
162, 171 n. ; maintenance of, 166. 
Albemarle, George Monck, Duke 
of, patronage of Morice, 56, 129; 
member Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 70, HQ, 129; French 
Navy and, 88-89; responsibility 
for the fleet, 94, 138; engages 
Dutch fleet, 95; English fleet 
and, 107 n. ; Commissioner of the 
Treasury, no; illness, 130; sells 
Mastership of the Horse, 149. 
Albert, Archduke of Austria, gov- 
ernor-general of Spanish Nether- 
lands, 2 n. 
Allegiance, oath of, 208, 260. 
Andover, Thomas Howard, Vis- 
count, 149. 
Andover, skirmish at, 11, 47- 
Anglesey, Arthur Annesley, Earl 
of, Vice-Treasurer of Ireland 
and of the navy, 151; attack on 
Ormonde, 151; deprived of office, 
152; proposed for Keeper of the 
Seals, 179; letter from (quoted), 
96. 
Anglicans, protest against Declara- 
tions of Indulgence, 64, 185. See 
also Church of England. 
Anne of Denmark, Queen of Eng- 
land, I. 
Antwerp, 2 n., 99, 198, i99- 
Arlington, Isabella Bennet, Count- 
ess of, see Grafton. 
Arlington, Isabella of Beverwaert, 
Countess of, family, 98-100; 



marriage to Arlington, 99; Lady 
of the Queen's Bedchamber, 99; 
courtesies extended to, 99-100; 
character and appearance, 100; 
social skill, 103; influence over 
Arlington, 144, 148 n., 173-174; 
foreign affairs, 148; wife of Col- 
bert and, 158; gifts of Louis 
XIV to, 167, 169 n.-i7o n.; ad- 
vice to Louise de Keroualle, 181 ; 
gives Evelyn a favor, 187; ac- 
companies Arlington to Holland, 
245-246; sells Arlington House, 
252 n. ; discusses her daughter's 
marriage, 257; mentioned, 213 n. 

Arlington House, Arlington's hos- 
pitality at, 252; history, 252 n.; 
mentioned, 258, 261. 

Armorer, Sir Nicholas, 43 n., 233 n. 

Arton, a notary, 200 n. 

Arundell of Wardour, Henry, 
Lord, Charles II and, 154; an 
avowed Catholic, 155; signer of 
Treaty of Dover, 169 n.; men- 
tioned, 158 n. 

Ashburnham, John, 56, 57 n. 

Ashley, Lord, see Shaftesbury. 

Aubigny, Ludovick Stuart, seign- 
eur of, 70. 

Aungier, Francis, Lord, 235 n. 

Austria, House of, preparations of 
Louis XIV against, 85 n.; Ar- 
lington's reliance on, 91; men- 
tioned, 121. 

Bacon, Sir Francis, 2. 

Balati, Abbot, 189 n. 

Barbary, 58. 

Batteville, Baron de, welcomes 
Bennet, 48; ordered to keep his 
house, 52; mentioned, 44 n. 



277 



278 



INDEX 



Bayonne, 37. 

Beaufort, Frangois de Vendome, 
Duke of, commander of French 
squadron, 93, 94. 

Bellings, Sir Richard, 70, 169 n. 

Bennet, Charles, 4. 

Bennet, Edward, 4, 15. 

Bennet, Elizabeth, 4, 116. 

Bennet, Isabella, see Grafton. 

Bennet, Sir John (judge of the 
prerogative court of Canter- 
bury), family and career, 1-5, 

87. 

Bennet, Sir John (of Harlington), 
family and career, 1-5, 9. i5. 46. 

Bennet, Sir John, later Lord 
Ossulston, family and career, 
1-5, 9, 46. 

Bennet, Richard, i n, 

Bennet, Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor 
of London, i n. 

Bennet, family of, 1-4. 

Berkeley, Sir Charles, see Fal- 
mouth. 

Berkeley of Stretton, Sir John 
Berkeley, Lord, favorite of the 
Duke of York, 20 ; snubs Bennet, 
20, 21, 22 n. ; influence over 
York, 24; accompanies York to 
Bruges, 25; slighted by Charles 
II, 27; raised to the peerage, 28; 
takes over Postmastership, 10 1; 
sent to Ireland, 159 n. 

Berkshire, i, 88 n. 

Beuningen, Conrad van, Dutch 
ambassador to England, 170, 252. 

Beverwaert, Charlotte of, 245-246. 

Beverwaert, Emilia of, 99. 

Beverwaert, Isabella of, see Arling- 
ton. 

Beverwaert, Louis of Nassau, Lord 
of, natural son of Prince 
Maurice, 98-99. 

Bidassoa River, 36. 

Birch, Colonel, 235 n. 

Birch's Heads of Illustriotts Per- 
sons, 47 n. 

Biscoe, Lieutenant-Colonel John, 
9 n. 



Bishop, Colonel Henry, 55, 10 1. 

Bishops' War (second), 7. 

Black Rod, 219. 

Blake, Admiral Robert, 32. 

Boyle, Michael, Archbishop of 
Dublin, 118 n. 

Bouclier d'Etat et de Justice, Le, 
106. 

Brabant, province of, 86 n., 197. 

Bradston, title of, 3 n. 

Braganza, Catharine of, see Catha- 
rine. 

Brandenburg, Frederick William, 
Elector of, 91, 100. 

Breda, 108, 109 n., no; Declara- 
tion of, 62, 63, 78; Peace of, no, 
121, 162. 

Brentford, skirmish at, 9. 

Bridgman, Sir Orlando, Lord 
Keeper, member of Committee 
of Foreign Affairs, 119; distrusts 
France, 129; ill-health, 130, 185; 
approves policy of De Witt, 134- 
13s; responsibility for Triple 
Alliance, 135 n., 141, 171, 175 n., 
179; in the Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 140, 150, 185; misleads 
Van Beuningen, 170; speech in 
Parliament, 175 n. ; dismissal, 
179, 203; Charles II and, 185; 
Dutch sympathies of, 212; letter 
from (quoted), 170 n. 

Brill, 84, 192, 193, 201 n. 

Bristol, George, Lord Digby and 
Earl of. Secretary of State, as 
patron of Bennet, 10-14; comes 
to Paris, 13; joins the French 
army, 14; succeeds to earldom of 
Bristol, 26; joins Charles II, 26; 
advises conciliation of Duke of 
York, 27; Bennet's intimacy 
with, 41, 51, S3; conversion to 
Catholicism, 41, 43 n.; deprived 
of Secretaryship of State, 41; 
conversion of Charles II, 42 n. ; 
partisan of Spain, 48; champion 
of English Catholics, 50, 62; 
affection of Charles II, 50, 115; 
courts Lady Castlemaine, 50, 68; 



INDEX 



279 



opposes Portuguese marriage, 50, 
51; reconciled with Clarendon, 
S3; urges toleration on Charles 
II, 62; recommends Sir R. 
Temple, 65 n, ; abandoned by 
Bennet, 68, 69; insolence to the 
King, 68; failure to impeach 
Clarendon, 68; banished, 69; 
reappearence at Court, 114; 
joins enemies of Clarendon, 115; 
allied with Buckingham and 
Arlington, 118; letter from 
(quoted), 13; letter to (quoted), 
12-13; mentioned, 97. 

Bristol, John Digby, Earl of, 10, 
137. 

Bristol, John Hervey, Lord, eulogy 
of Duchess of Grafton, 260 n. 

Broderick, Sir Allen, 49 n. 

Bruges, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. 

Brunswick, Duke of, 91. 

Brussels, 16, 26, 32, 37, 130. 

Buat, Henri Fleury de Coulant, 
Lord of, opposition to De Witt, 
90 n. ; executed, 91 n. 

Buckingham, John Sheffield, Duke 
of, 6, 41 n., 98; buys Arlington 
House, 252 n. 

Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke 
of, character and appearance, 46, 
114, 118; enmity towards Claren- 
don, 50, 103-105, 113, 116; rela- 
tions with Charles II, 67 n., 104- 
los, 113-11S, 163-164, 168, 179, 
180, 181, 190, 206 n., 222, 225, 
228, 236; at Lady Castlemaine's, 
79; activities in Parliament, 96, 
103-104, 112-113, 115-117, 139, 
152, 163-164, 168, 176, 178, 206, 
208, 223-224, 225-228; relations 
with Arlington, 97, 103-105, 112- 
114, 116, 118-119, 123, 125, 128, 
139-140, 142, 147, 149, 150-153, 
158-160, 162-164, 168, 170, 173- 
174, 176, 179-181, 186-187, 191, 
197-198, 201, 222-222,, 225-228, 
231, 251; relations with W. Co- 
ventry, 103-104, 113-114, 116, 
118; quarrels with Ossory, 104; 



charged with treasonable corre- 
spondence, 104, 225; Lady Cas- 
tlemaine intercedes for, 104, 
113; examination and release, 
104-105; restored to his places, 
113 n., 114; pretends to first 
place in the ministry, 118; mem- 
ber of Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 119, 224; alliance of 
England with France, 123-127, 
147, 168, 223; consultations with 
Ruvigny, 123-127, 129, 130, 140; 
limitation of French marine, 
125, 126; duel with Shrewsbury, 
139; intrigues against Triple 
Alliance, 140; correspondence 
with the Duchess of Orleans, 
140, 159; opposes Temple's ap- 
pointment, 143; not valued by 
Louis XIV, 143-144, 147; pro- 
poses expulsion of Clarendon's 
adherents from the Council, 147; 
buys place of Master of the 
Horse, 149; contest for the gov- 
ernment of Ireland, 150-153, 
158; shows favor to Anglesey, 
151, 179; protector of fanatics, 
156; inclined to Catholicism, 
157 n. ; cajoled by Lady Har- 
vey, 160; promotes attack on 
Carteret, 163-164; Duchess of 
Orleans intercedes for, 168; his 
mistress, 170; Grand Design con- 
cealed from, 173; negotiates a 
treaty with France, 173-174; 
accused of "blabbing", 176; 
his party in the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, 176, 179; as- 
sumes the credit for the Triple 
Alliance, 176, 225, 227; elected 
Chancellor of Cambridge, 179; 
his military ambitions disap- 
pointed, 179-180; patronage of 
Nell Gwyn, 181; approves 
second Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 184, 208, 22T, member of 
the Cabal, 185; cools towards 
the French alliance, 190, 191, 
195; peace proposals from the 



28o 



INDEX 



Dutch, 190 n.; plenipotentiary to 
Louis XIV, 191-199; terms of 
peace advocated by, i93-i94> 
19s, 197-198, 201, 22S» 226, 231; 
influenced by William of Orange, 
19s; plays the country gentle- 
man, 206; obtains a pardon from 
Charles II, 217 n.; suggests re- 
call of Colbert, 223; his defense, 
225-228; breaks his Privy Coun- 
cillor's oath, 228; leaves the 
Court, 228; his embassy of con- 
dolence on the death of Madame, 
231; in disgrace, 238; letter from 
(quoted), 193-194; mentioned, 
41, 47, 131, 132, 134, 182, 193 n., 
212, 213, 230, 236 n. 

Buckingham Palace, 103, 232 n. 

Buckinghamshire, i. 

Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salis- 
bury, quoted, 62 n., 136 n., 
156 n., 176, 180, 226 n., 246; 
mentioned, 18 n., 78, 256 n. 

Bury St. Edmunds, 205. 

Byron, John, Lord, governor of 
the Duke of York, 16, 17. 

Cabal, the, members of, 185; 
breach with Spain, 188; distrust- 
ful of Louis XIV, 190; decides 
on prorogation of Parliament, 
203; hated, 210; charges against, 
2 1 1-2 12; pardons obtained by, 
217; end of rule, 238. 

Cadsand, 198. 

Callington, 48, 49 n. 

Cambridge University of, 179. 

Canterbury, Archbishop of, see 
Sheldon. 

Canterbury, prerogative court of, 

I, 3. 

Capel, Sir Henry, 235 n. 

Carleton, Sir Dudley, 2 n. 

Carlingford, Theobald Taaffe, Earl 
of, 21, 8s n. 

Carolina, 259. 

Carr, Sir Robert, marriage, 116; 
accusations against Clarendon, 
116; place on the Treasury Com- 
mission, 204; informs Arlington 



of proceedings of House of Com- 
mons, 229 n. ; impeachment of 
Arlington, 235 n. 

Carteret, Sir George, discusses 
dividing the fleet, 93 n.-94 n.; 
attacked in the House of Com- 
mons, 163-164; mentioned, 168. 

Castlemaine, see Cleveland. 

Catharine of Braganza, Queen of 
England, marriage to Charles II, 
43, 48, 50, 52; ladies of the 
Bedchamber to, 54, 99; maid of 
honor to, 180; at Goring House, 
214; mentioned, 189, 259. 

Catholics, see Roman Catholics. 

Cattle Bill, Arlington's responsi- 
bility for, 96; quarrel over, 104. 

Cecils, Secretaries of State, 137. 

Celehre Amhassade, 72 n., 82-85, 
87, 89, 93 n. 

Chamberlain of the Royal House- 
hold, office of, 47 n., 243, 260. 

Chancellor, see Ellesmere, Bacon, 
Clarendon, Shaftesbury. 

Charleroi, 247 n. 

Charles I, visits Oxford, 5; 
marches on London, 9; Parlia- 
mentary infantry and, 11; exe- 
cution, 15; prison of, 102; 
letters to (quoted), 12 n.; men- 
tioned, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 

19, 56. 

Charles II, Court of, 8, 61; rela- 
tions with Bennet, 14, 16, 17, 19, 
20-21, 22, 26-27, 28, 34, 38, 40, 
42 n.-43 n., 45, 48, 52-60, 62, 67, 
7^-7 Z, 75, 78-79, 97-98, 99, 102, 
no n., 115-116, 118, 121, 123, 
127-128, 141-142, 144-145, 153, 
154-155, 157-162, 164-165, 178, 
180-182, 188-189, 191-192, 199, 
201, 205-209, 213, 214, 215, 216- 
218, 221-223, 229, 236, 237, 238, 
239, 240-241, 242, 243, 244-245, 
247 n., 249-257, 260; goes to 
Jersey, 16; in Scotland, 16, 17; 
return to Paris, 17; relations 
with the Duke of York, 17, 19- 

20, 24, 25, 27-28, loi n., 221, 
258-259; society pleasing to, 17- 



INDEX 



281 



18; relations with Hyde, 17-18, 
19, 23, 49, so, 52-53, 55, 57, 64, 
66-68, 72, 1X1-112, 117; urged to 
appoint Privy Councillors, 19; 
goes to Cologne, 19; relations 
with Spain, 23-24, 26, 29-38, 
44 n., 81-82, 86, 120, 128-129, 
130, 131, 132, 166, 215, 221, 239- 
240; relations with Portugal, 23, 
43, 75, 86, 120; reappoints Bris- 
tol Secretary of State, 26; Res- 
toration, 38; urged to ask aid of 
the Pope, 41-42, 189; conversion 
to Catholicism, 42 n.-43 n., 154- 
155, 165, 167, 178; mistresses, 
48, so, 233 n., 253; affection for 
Bristol, 50; favorites, 51, 56, 
67 n., 71; orders Batteville to 
keep his house, 52; appoints 
Holies ambassador to France, 
54; compromise with the Queen, 
54; removes Nicholas from Sec- 
retaryship of State, 56-57; ad- 
vised to enforce Act of Uni- 
formity, 59-60; first Declaration 
of Indulgence, 61-66; relations 
with Ashley, 61-62, 67 n., 179- 
180, 186, 203, 207-208, 213-214, 
216 n., 223, 259; relations with 
Parliament, 62-66, 78, 96, no, 
122, 136 n., 137, 139, 164, 17s n., 
178, 201 n., 202, 203, 206-209, 
213, 215, 218, 219 n., 221-222, 
224-22S, 230, 232, 23s n., 237, 
250 n., 251; dispensing power, 
66, 68 n., 229; relations with 
Buckingham, 67 n., 104-105, 113- 
115, 163-164, 168, 179, 180, 181, 
190, 2o6n., 222, 225, 228, 236; in- 
solence of Bristol, 68; relations 
with the Dutch, 73, 80, 84, 85 n., 
88, 109, 120-121, 128-129, 130, 
135, 164, 170, 178, 183, 193, 195- 
196, 201, 206, 236-239, 247 n.; 
relations with France, 75-76, 8i- 
82, 83 n., 84, 89, 120-123, 126, 
128-129, 132, 133, 141-142, 145, 
154, 161-162, 164-167, 173-174, 
188-189, 191, 195-196, 201 n., 
203, 209, 215-216, 217, 221-223, 



236-237, 239, 245; consents to 
Dutch War, 80; creates Com- 
mission of Prizes, 80; peace 
within his grasp, 88; inferiority 
of secret service, 92, 93 n.; as- 
sents to Cattle Bill, 96; influ- 
ence of Lady Castlemaine, 97; 
fancy for Frances Stewart, 97; 
advised not to send out the fleet, 
107; obliged to raise troops, 109; 
revenue of, in; displeased with 
Coventry, 116; friendly to Ru- 
vigny, 120; applauded for Triple 
Alliance, 136 n., 146; proposes 
comprehension of Protestant sub- 
jects, 137, 139; disappointed in 
Triple Alliance, 141; relations 
with Prince of Orange, 149 n., 
201 n., 202, 244, 246, 247 n., 248; 
dismissal of Ormonde, 150-153, 
158-159; plans conversion of 
England to Catholicism, 154, 
164-165, 166-167, 174 n., 188, 
2x5; influence of Duchess of 
Orleans, 160, 161, 166-168; will 
not commit himself further to 
Triple Alliance, 162; Orrery's 
credit with, 164 n. ; admits Col- 
bert to secret negotiation, 165; 
meets the Duchess of Orleans at 
Dover, 166-168; wishes to see 
Turenne, 167 n. ; Lauderdale's 
relations with, 171-172, 180, 186, 
207-208, 245; relations with the 
Emperor, 177 n. ; his sons, 178 n., 
187, 241-242, 255-259; devotion 
to Louise de Keroualle, 180-182; 
second Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 184-185, 207-209, 231; rela- 
tions with Clifford, 186, 204-205, 
207-208, 210; asks religious coun- 
sel of the Pope, 189; takes seals 
from Bridgman, 203; irritated 
by England's Appeal, 211 n.; re- 
lations with Osborne, 213, 222, 
223, 245, 248-249, 251-252, 256; 
dissolution of marriage sug- 
gested, 214; forces collected by, 
217; pardons the Cabal, 217; 
orders Catholics from Court, 



INDEX 



221', money for war, 2^2; influ- 
ence of Monmouth, 242; sends 
envoys to Holland, 244-248; ap- 
peal to Temple, 251-252; wel- 
comes the Duchess of Mazarin, 
253-254; later years of reign, 258; 
death, 260; letters from (quoted), 
20-21, 21 n., 22, 142 n., 158 n., 
159 n., 160 n. ; letters to 
(quoted), 21 n., 60, 60 n., 199, 
247 n.; mentioned, 6, 44 n., 46, 
47, 6s n., 70, 90 n., 124, 125, 
13s n., 140, 149, 156 n., 169, 193, 
193 n., 212, 220 n., 226 n., 261. 

Chatham, 109. 

Chaworth, Lady, 260. 

Cheney, Henry, Lord, 87 n. 

Cheney, Jane Wentworth, Lady, 
87 n.-88 n. 

Cheney, title and family of, 87-88. 

Chimney tax, 59. 

Christ Church, Bennet matricu- 
lates, 5; celebrates Westminster 
Supper, s ; Royalist sentiment, 8 ; 
Samuel Fell, dean, 8; portrait 
of Arlington in, 47 n. 

Christoval, Don, 75 n. 

Chudleigh, 186. 

Church of England, 5, 49, 59, i39, 
155, 159, 208, 224, 230-231. 

Churchill, Sir Winston, 65 n. 

Civil War, 6, 8, 10. 

Clanmalira, 10 1. 

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 
relations with Bennet, 17-18, 19, 
21, 23, 36, 41, 43-45, 48, 51-55, 
57, 64, 66-69, 70-74, 78, 96, 98, 
103-104, 111-117, 150, 251; Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, 17; re- 
lations with Charles II, 17-18, 
19, 23, 49, 50, 52-53, 55, 57, 64, 
66-68, "jz, 111-112, 117; relations 
with W. Coventry, 19, 78, 79, 96, 
103, III, 114-115, 116; instruc- 
tions drawn by, 30-31; foreign 
policy, 41, 43, 73; made Chan- 
cellor and Earl of Clarendon, 
44; character, 44, 49-50; his 
power, 49-50; his opponents, 50, 
78-80, 96; enmity of Bucking- 



ham, so, 103-10S, 113, 116; dis- 
likes Charles Berkeley, 51, 81 n.; 
promotes Portuguese marriage, 
52; Privy Purse promised to his 
relative, 52; Catholics and, 52; 
reconciliation with Bristol, 53; 
manages compromise between 
the King and Queen, 54; ill 
health, 62, 72; Declaration of 
Indulgence, 64; defeats bill al- 
lowing King's dispensing power, 
66; relations with Bristol, 68, 
114; impeachment of, 68; op- 
poses Dutch War, 79, 80; esti- 
mates war supply, 80 n. ; nego- 
tiations with Molina, 86; secret 
correspondence with France, 
105; advises against sending out 
the fleet, 107 n. ; his dismissal, 
III; impeachment, 115-117; flees 
to France, 117; his successor, 
118; possible reinstatement of, 
127-128; treatment by Louis 
XIV, 128; Commons displeased 
at his escape, 137; quoted, 10, 16, 
17, 18 n., 19 n., 38 n., 40 n., 47, 
48, 49, 64, 72, 73, 77, 78, 112, 
113, 121, 156; letters to 
(quoted), 26 n., 31, :^2, 34, 
42 n. ; mentioned, 10, Z7 "-, 
39 n., 58, 119, 123, 124, 133, 142, 
188, 189, 251. 

Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, Count- 
ess of Castlemaine and Duchess 
of Cleveland, patronage of Ben- 
net, 48, S3, 54-55; disliked by 
Clarendon, 50; courted by Bris- 
tol, 50, 68; lady of the Queen's 
Bedchamber, 54; quarrels with 
Frances Stewart, 68; her supper 
parties, 79, 97; influence over 
Charles II, 97; intercedes for 
Buckingham, 104, 105; lodgings 
at Whitehall, 112; marriage of 
her son, 168, 186-187, 255, 256- 
257; her shrewishness, 182; so- 
journ in France, 255; mentioned, 
113, 180-181. 

Clifford of Chudleigh, Sir Thomas, 
Lord, friendship with Bennet, 



INDEX 



283 



78, 204; opposes Clarendon, 78; 
leader in the House of Com- 
mons, 79; Commissioner of the 
Treasury, no, 204; advocates 
second war with the Dutch, 140, 
172; Charles II confides his con- 
version to, 154; convert to Ca- 
tholicism, 155; influenced by the 
Duchess of Orleans, 167; signer 
of Treaty of Dover, 169 n. ; 
member of Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 172; negotiates sham 
treaty with France, 173; sup- 
ports Arlington, 176; Bucking- 
ham and, 180; proposes Stop on 
Exchequer, 184; enthusiasm for 
second Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 184-185, 210; member of 
the Cabal, 185; raised to the 
peerage, 186; acting Secretary 
of State, 193; made Treasurer 
of England, 203-205; Arlington's 
quarrel with, 203-206, 209; Dtike 
of York's friendship, 204, 210; 
advises maintaining Declaration 
of Indulgence, 207-208, 210; ad- 
vises dissolution of Parliament, 
208; speech against the Test, 
209, 210; resigns Treasurership, 
213; obtains a pardon, 217 n. ; 
death, 238; letters to (quoted), 
193-194, 195; mentioned, 158 n., 
174 n. 

Cliveden, 206. 

Colbert, Charles, see Croissy. 

Colbert, Jean-Baptist e, 76, 143. 

Colepeper, John, Lord, 43 n. 

Colnbrook, 9, 87. 

Cologne, 19, 20, 21, 22, 217, 218 n., 
236 n., 237 n., 239. 

Colonies, 58. 

Comenge-Guitaut, Gaston Jean- 
Baptiste, Count of. Clarendon 
and, 70-71; sent over to con- 
clude treaty of alliance, 75; 
Bennet's opposition, 75-76; mem- 
ber of Celebre Amhassade, 82; 
England's terms for peace, 83- 
84; letters from (quoted), 6i n.. 



67 n., 68 n., 71 n., 82-83; men- 
tioned, 62 n., 98 n. 

Commines, Philippe de, 6. 

Commons, House of, members, 2, 
59, 78; Bennet elected, 48, 49 n.; 
Clarendon's clique, 49, 78; con- 
demns Declarations of Indul- 
gence, 65-66, 207-208; suspicious 
of religious policy of Charles II, 
65, 139, 207-208, 219-220; Ben- 
net's relations with, 7", 78, 
102 n.. Ill, 113, 114-115, 137- 
138, 189 n., 216, 217, 228-235, 
241 n., 250-251; enthusiasm for 
first Dutch War, 78, 79, 80; 
supply voted, 80, 96, 138-139, 
207, 213; distrustful of the 
Court, 95-96, 138-139, 175-179, 
219-220; Buckingham's influence 
with, 104, 112, 114, 115, 176; 
feared by W. Coventry, 11, 113- 
115; inquiries into Dutch War, 
115, 137, 139; disagreements 
with the Lords, 116, 139, 178; 
attitude towards Triple Alliance, 
136, 137; committees of, 138 n., 
235 ; attack upon Sir G. Carteret, 
163; anti-French sentiment in, 
175-176, 178; inquiries into Stop 
on Exchequer, 184; attitude 
towards Second Dutch War, 200, 
207, 237; Test bill introduced, 
208; irritated at Clifford's 
speech, 209; address against 
marriage of Duke of York, 219; 
moves to coTisider evil coun- 
sellors, 220; Buckingham to buy 
a majority, 223-224; Speaker of, 
223 n., 225, 227, 230; treaty with 
France exhibited to, 224; ad- 
dress for removal of Lauderdale, 
225 ; speech of Buckingham, 225- 
228; advises Charles II to ac- 
cept Dutch terms, 237; faction 
hostile to Danby, 251; exclusion 
bill introduced, 259; mentioned, 
68, no. See also Parliament. 

Commonwealth, 15. 

Conde, Louis de Bourbon, Prince 
of, 35. 



INDEX 



Conde, town of, 15. 

Conventicles, 184-185. 

Conventicles Act, 68 n., 229. 

Conway, Edward, Lord, letters 
from (quoted), 96 n., 142 n., 
222 n., 237 n., 241 n.; letter to 
(quoted), 223 n. 

Cooke, Colonel Edward, letter from 
(quoted), 259. 

Cooper, Anthony Ashley, see 
Shaftesbury. 

Cornbury, Henry Hyde, Lord, later 
Earl of Clarendon, 235 n. 

Cornwall, 48. 

Cornwallis, Charles, 55 n. 

Corona Regia, 2 n. 

Council of the North, i. 

Country Party, 238, 241, 256. 

Court Party, 209, 216, 223, 238, 
250. 

Courtin, Pierre, member of Celehre 
Amhassade, 82, 89. 

Covenant, the, 7. 

Coventry, Sir Henry, summoned 
from Ireland, 65 n. ; ambassador 
to Breda, 109 n. ; advises with- 
drawal of Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 207; belongs to pro-Dutch 
faction, 223 n, ; letter from 
(quoted), 233 n.-234 n. 

Coventry, Sir John, attacked on 
the street, 175 n. 

Coventry, Thomas, Lord, Keeper 
of the Seals, 18. 

Coventry, Sir William, friendship 
with Bennet, 18, 78; diplomatic 
errand, 19; secretary to Duke of 
York, 78; hostile to Clarendon, 
78, 96, hi; leader in the Com- 
mons, 79; estimates supply for 
Dutch War, 80 n.; advises con- 
cerning fleet, 93 n.; recalls Ru- 
pert, 94; fear of Parliament, 95, 
III, 113-115; relations with 
Buckingham, 103-104, 113-114, 
116, 118; severity towards Sir 
P. Pett, 109; Commissioner of 
the Treasury, no; resigns sec- 
retaryship, 112; accountable for 
the fleet's not being sent out, 115; 



declines to support impeachment 
of Clarendon, 116; Charles II 
displeased, 116, 118; estrange- 
ment from Arlington, 118; dis- 
missed from Council and Treas- 
ury Commission, 159 n. ; letter 
to (quoted), 206 n. 

Cowley, Abraham, 16 n. 

Crofts, Cecilia, 7. 

Crofts, Dorothy, family, 3-4, 7, 87; 
marries Sir John Bennet, 3; 
death, 46; letter to (quoted), 
15 n. 

Crofts, Sir John, 3-4, 88 n. 

Crofts, William, Lord, family, 3-4, 
7, 87; character, 18; communi- 
cation to the French ambassador, 
158; mentioned, 172. 

Crofts, family of, 3-4, 7, 87. 

Croissy, Charles Colbert, Marquis 
of, embassy to England, 143-146; 
bribe to Arlington, 146-147; con- 
spiracy of Buckingham with, 147, 
159-160; advances from Arling- 
ton, 158; ignorant of negotiation 
between Charles II and Louis 
XIV, 162; takes over English 
treaty, 165-166; offers Arlington 
a pension, 168-169; negotiates 
sham treaty, 173; suspects Ar- 
lington, 177, 215, 222; Charles 
II's conversion, 178; declines 
demand for financial help from 
France, 188-189, 203; suggests 
sale of Tangier, 189; advice to 
Louis XIV, 1 9 1- 1 92; reports on 
the situation in England, 202, 
209-210, 221-222; recalled, 223; 
letters from (quoted), 152 n., 
158, 159-160, 164, 171 n., 176, 
177, 181, 191-192, 205 n., 209 n., 
211 n., 214 n., 215 n., 216 n., 
218 n., 220, 222 n., 223 n., 
243 n.; mentioned, 40 n., 157, 
17s n., 186 n., 205 n., 213 n., 
220. 

Cromwell, Oliver, Irish campaign, 
16; negotiates with Mazarin, 19; 
fleet of, 29, 30, 32; Ireland to 
revolt from, 30; Spanish Council 



INDEX 



28s 



hopes for peace with, 32; death, 
33» 34; commercial concessions 
obtained from France, 76 n.; 
secret service, 92, 138 n.; Dun- 
kirk delivered to, 129. 

Danby, Sir Thomas Osborne, Earl 
of, later Duke of Leeds, ad- 
herent of Buckingham, 152, 213; 
reliance of Charles II on, 222, 
249, 251; supports French alli- 
ance, 22Z', conciliation of House 
of Commons, 224, 237 n.; mem- 
ber of Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 224; rivalry with Arling- 
ton, 240-243, 245, 248-249, 250- 
252, 254-255; seeks support, 242; 
his party joined by Williamson, 
243; his son, 245; attempted im- 
peachment of, 250-251; friendli- 
ness of William of Orange, 254; 
impeachment, 255-256; dismissed 
by Charles II, 256; severity 
towards Catholics, 256 n. 

Dartmouth, William Legge, Earl 
of, 256 n. 

Davila, Enrico Catarino, 6, 

Dawley, manor of, 4, 5. 

Deal, 54 n. 

Denmark, declares war on Eng- 
land, 90-91; mentioned, i, 58. 

Devon, 78. 

De Witt, Jan, Grand Pensionary 
of Holland, discovers Buat's 
conspiracy, 90 n., 91; upholds 
French alliance, 91, 106; Li sola's 
negotiation with, 106-107, 109 n. ; 
informed of St. Albans's pro- 
ceedings, 108 n.; method of pro- 
curing peace, 109; conferences 
with Temple, 133-134. i3S; views 
as to Triple Alliance, 143 ; Triple 
Alliance, the conception of, 148- 
149; agreement projected by, 
162; sends Van Beuningen to 
England, 170; project of treaty 
approved by, 171 n.; Lisola in 
agreement with, 177 n. ; assassi- 
nation, 202; letter to (quoted), 
170 n. 



Digby, see Bristol. 

Digby, Sir Kenelm, mission to 
Rome, 12; return to Paris, 13. 

Dissenters, relief of, 62-63, 68, 
208; condemn Declaration of In- 
dulgence, 64-65; enforcement of 
laws against, 156. See also 
Independents, Non-conformists, 
Presbyterians. 

Douai, 178 n. 

Dover, 166, 167, 180. 

Dover, Treaty of, concluded by 
Duchess of Orleans, 166; terms, 
166-167; signers of, 169 n.; not 
to be communicated to Prot- 
estants, 173; sham treaty coin- 
cides with, 173-174; Arlington 
and Clifford implicated in, 210; 
mentioned, 40 n. 

Downing, Sir George, influence on 
English ministers, 77 n.; en- 
trusted with sham negotiation, 
85 n.; letters to (quoted), 77 ^-^ 
85 n.; mentioned, 235 n. 

Downs, the, 95. 

Dublin, 118 n. 

Du Moulin, Pierre, probable author 
of England's Appeal, 212', in 
Arlington's office, 212-213; in 
employ of William of Orange, 
213; grudge against Arlington, 
213; career, 213 n. 

Duncombe, Sir John, Commis- 
sioner of the Treasury, no. 

Dunkirk, 60, 73, 129, 189, 206. 

Dutch, the, oppose sale of Dunkirk, 
7Z', relations with France, 7z, 75 » 
76, 81-85, 87, 88-89, 92, 106-108, 
1 19-120, 122, 124, 126-128, 132- 
13s, 144, 157, 164, 166, 182, 188, 
189-190, 196-197, 239, 247; re- 
lations with England, 73, 7^-77^ 
79-95. 106-110, 120-121, 126-136, 
140-141, 143-149, 157, 162, 164- 
167, 170-172, 182-183, 188, 189- 
190, 192-202, 206, 212, 215, 217, 
220, 221, 225-227, 231-232, 236- 
238, 239-240, 242, 244, 246-248; 
Arlington's policy regarding, 84, 
8s n., 106-108, 126-127, 131-13S. 



INDEX 



144, 148, 157-158, 161, 162, 165, 
170, 182-183, 190, 201-202, 206, 
221, 226-227, 231-232, 237, 247; 

interested in Flanders, 86, 92, 
106, 108, 134; ambassadors from, 
87 n., 99, 120-121, 130, 131, 132, 
183, 206, 244, 252; joined by- 
Brandenburg, Brunswick, and 
Liineburg, 91; fleet, 93, 95, 107, 
108, 109, 115 n., 138, 183, 188, 
193, 199; affairs transferred to 
Trevor, 154; willing to assist 
Duke of Lorraine, 171 n. ; re- 
sponsibilities towards Triple Alli- 
ance, 175 n. ; deputies from, 189- 
190, 211 n,, 213 n. ; circulate 
England's Appeal, 211 n. ; party 
in England, 212, 223; mentioned, 
58. See also Holland, Nether- 
lands, States General. 

Dutch War, first, origin, 76; party 
favoring, 77, 79, 80; opposed by 
Clarendon and Southampton, 79; 
money voted for, 80, 87; govern- 
ment committed to, 81; rejoicing 
over, 82, 83; attitude of Spain, 
84 n., 86-87, 92; England's suc- 
cess, 89; Bennet anxious to end 
the war, 90; no longer chief 
interest of Europe, 91-92; pro- 
longation injurious to Dutch, 
108; Commons inquire into, 115, 
137, 139; waged in interest of 
mercantile class, 140; mentioned, 
12 n., 96, 107, 120 n., 122, 136 n., 
163, 164. 

Dutch War, second, planned, 164, 
166-167, 182; outbreak, 183; de- 
fended by Shaftesbury, 206-207; 
justified by success, 216; no ad- 
vantage to England, 217; sup- 
port of Parliament expected, 
218 n., 219 n. ; Charles II unable 
to continue, 221; explanations of 
Buckingham concerning, 225- 
226; Charles II assured he had 
money for, 232; Commons con- 
sider grievances arising from, 
237; withdrawal of England 
from, 237, 246; failure, 239. 



East India Company, 140. 

East Indies, trade of, 85 n., 192, 
237-238. 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 84. 

EUesmere, Sir Thomas Egerton, 
Lord, 2. 

Embrun, archbishop of, 87 n. 

Emperor, see Leopold I. 

Empire, the, 58, 121. See also 
Leopold I. 

England, relations with France, 19, 
22, 23, 34, 40, 43, 71, 73-7^, 
81-93, 105-108, 120-136, 139, 141- 
148, 154-155, 157-158, 161-162, 
164-167, 173-174, 175-176, 178- 
180, 182, 185, 188-192, 196, 200, 
206, 209, 211-212, 215-218, 219, 
221-227, 231-232, 236-238, 239, 
242; relations with Spain, 22, 31, 
41, 43, 44, 73-75, 81-82, 84 n., 
85-89, 91, 92, 120-123, 125-129, 
131-132, 134, 155, 166, 188, 
214, 215, 239-240; relations with 
Portugal, 23, 43, 44 n., 52, 73, 
74-75, 86, 120, 189; proposed in- 
vasion of, 23, 27, 30, 33; posses- 
sions in West Indies, 23, 120 n. ; 
Royalists in, 24, 30, 33; fleet, 29, 
30, 32, 80, 92, 93, 105, 107, 109, 
115, 137-138, 183, 200, 208; quiet 
after Cromwell's death, 34; un- 
settled state, 37; foreign policy, 
38; finances, 40; relations with 
the Dutch, 73, 76-77, 79-95, 106- 
110, 120-121, 126-136, 140-141, 
143-149, 157, 162, 164-167, 170- 
172, 182-183, 188, 189-190, 192- 
202, 206, 212, 215, 217, 220, 221, 
225-227, 231-232, 236-238, 239- 
240, 242, 244, 246-248; com- 
mercial supremacy, 74, 77, 140; 
alliance with Bishop of Mtinster, 
84; success in Dutch War, 88; 
Denmark declared war on, 90- 
91; alliance with the Emperor 
proposed, 121, 171, 176-177; 
must guarantee peace of Aix, 
143; Arlington controls affairs 
of, 144; proposed conversion to 
Catholicism, 154, 155, 157, 164- 



INDEX 



287 



166, 178, 188; responsibilities to 
Triple Alliance, 175 n.; unable 
to withdraw from war, 200; 
forces commanded by Schom- 
berg, 227, 231; mentioned, i, 2, 
14 n., 36, 42 n., 43, 45, 48, SI, 
54 n., 58, 67, 69 n., 72 n., 98, 99, 
103, 113 n., 150, 169, 213 n., 242, 
253, 254, 25s, 258; kings of, see 
James I, Charles I, Charles II, 
York, James, Duke of; queens 
of, see Anne of Denmark, Hen- 
rietta Maria, Catharine of Bra- 
ganza. 

England's Appeal, character, 211- 
213; probable author, 212-213; 
vogue of, 217, 219. 

English Channel, 92, 94 n., 183. 

Essex, Arthur Capel, Earl of, 
letters to (quoted), 222 n., 
223 n,, 236 n., 2^7 n., 241 n., 
250 n., 250-251. 

d'Estrades, Godefroi, Count, 
French ambassador to England, 
48; opposes Bennet's appoint- 
ment as ambassador to France, 
53-54; recalled, 75; ambassador 
at the Hague, 100; informs De 
Witt of St. Albans's negotiation, 
108 n.; letters from (quoted), 
52 n., 57 n.; mentioned, 53 n., 
loi n. 

Euston, Earl and Countess of, see 
Grafton. 

Euston Hall, 102, 103, 181-182, 
205 n,, 252, 254, 258. 

Evelyn, Sir John, admires Bennet, 
47; his opinion of Lady Arling- 
ton, 100; suggests improvements 
at Goring House and at Euston, 
103; meets the Duchess of Maz- 
arin, 254 n. ; his diary quoted, 47, 
182, 187, 256-257, 258, 261; men- 
tioned, 98, 260 n., 261 n. 

Exchequer, prize money, 81, 188; 
Stop on, 184, 185, 227, 233; 
Chancellor of, 17, 61. 

Explanatory Act, 10 1, 151. 



Fagel, Gaspard, Grand Pensionary 
of Holland, 200 n. ; proposes al- 
liance between the United Prov- 
inces and England, 247. 

Falmouth, Sir Charles Berkeley, 
Lord Fitzharding and Earl of, 
favorite with King and York, 51, 
67 n. ; disliked by Clarendon, 51, 
81 n.; Bennet makes friends 
with, 51; at Lady Castlemaine's, 
79; mission to France, 81-82; 
letter from (quoted), ^2 n. 

Fanshaw, Sir Richard, ambassador 
to Spain, 71; instructions, 74; 
letters to (quoted), 84 n., 86. 

Farther Instructions to a Painter, 
by Andrew Marvell, 175 n. 

Fell, Samuel, dean of Christ 
Church, 8. 

Finch, Sir Heneage, 223, 224. 

Finch, Sir J., letter to (quoted), 
142. 

Finisterre, 237. 

Fitzharding, see Falmouth. 

Fitzroy, Henry, see Grafton. 

Flanders, mission of Sir John Ben- 
net to, 2; Spanish armies in, 26, 
33, 188; Spanish ministers in, 
29, intentions of Louis XIV re- 
garding, 82, 8s, 86, 106, 124; 
preservation of, 92, 108, 1 19-120, 
131, 134; neutrality of England 
touching, 106, 126, 127, 128-129; 
conquests of Louis XIV in, 119, 
123, 136; problem of, 120-121; 
part of belonging to States Gen- 
eral, 197; mentioned, 15 n., 24, 
25, 29, 31, 37, 39, 58, 198. See 
also Netherlands, Spanish. 

Fleet Prison, 3. 

Flushing, 92, 201 n. 

Foreign Affairs, Committee of, 
members of, 59, 70, 119, 171-172, 
212, 224; controlled by Claren- 
don, 70; refuses offers of France, 
87 n.; information necessary to, 
92; cannot equip the fleet, 105; 
believes peace imminent, 105; 
reorganized, 119; attitude 
towards France, 121, 129, 133, 



288 



INDEX 



134; intermission in meetings, 
130; awaits oflfeirs from France, 
the Empire, and Spain, 133 n.; 
agrees to De Witt's proposal, 
134-135; Buckingham seldom at- 
tends, 140; responsibilities of 
Arlington and Bridgman in, 140, 
150; debates in, 156, 183, 184- 
185, 200, 201 n., 202, 207-208, 
224, 2^7; Triple Alliance, 171 n., 
176-177; deadlock, 176; Bridg- 
man ceases to attend, 185; sus- 
picious of agents of William of 
Orange, 200; decides on pro- 
rogation of Parliament, 203; Ar- 
lington isolated in, 206; men- 
tioned, 68, 72, 182, 253 n. 

Four Days Battle, g%, 115 n. 

France, court of, 10 n., 14, 25, 54; 
army, 14, 19, 22, 27, 29, 31, 84, 
89; relations with England, 19, 
22, 23, 34, 40, 43, 71, 73-76, 81- 
93, 105-108, 120-136, 139, 141- 
148, 154-155, 157-158, 161-162, 
164-167, 173-174, 175-176, 178- 
180, 182, 188-192, 196, 200, 206, 
209, 211-212, 215-218, 219, 221- 
227, 231-232, 236-238, 239, 242; 
expulsion of Stuarts, 19, 22; re- 
lations with Spain, 22, 34, 73, 
75, 82, 84 n., 86, 89, 91, 119, 122, 
124, 125, 128-129, 132-134, 143, 
166, 215, 239-240, 247 n. ; assist- 
ance asked for Charles II, 36- 
37; Bennet's attitude towards, 
41, 43, 74-76, 83-85, 86 n., 89, 
121-122, 124-129, 133-13S, 141- 
148, 157-158, 161, 164-170, 173- 
174, 176-177, 188-191, 192-196, 
203, 209 n., 211-212, 214- 
217, 218 n., 220, 221-223, 226- 
227, 231, 236, 237 n., 238, 247; 
relations with Portugal, 52, 82 n.; 
appointment of English am- 
bassador to, 53-54; relations with 
the Dutch, 73, 75, 76, 81-85, 87, 
88-89, 92, 106-108, 1 19-120, 122, 
124, 126-128, 132-13S, 144, 157, 
164, 166, 182, 188, 189-190, 196- 
197, 239, 247; fleet, 89, 93, 125, 



126-127, 217; Lisola would build 
a coalition against, 106, 131, 
171 n.; Clarendon takes refuge 
in, 117, 127; relations with the 
Emperor, 119, 177 n., 239; prep- 
arations for war, 175; Danby's 
treasonable correspondence with, 
256; mentioned, 13, 26, 35, 42, 
58, 220 n., 246, 255; ambassadors 
of, see D'Estrades, Comenge, 
Celebre Amhassade, Ruvigny, 
Croissy; king of, see Louis XIV. 

Franche-Comte, 124, 247 n. 

Fresno, Marquis del, Spanish am- 
bassador to England, 221 ; 
concludes peace, 221, 222, 236- 
237, 238. 

Friquet, imperial envoy at the 
Hague, 109 n. 

Fuentarabia, 35, 37, 40, 42, 262. 

Garter king-at-arms, see Walker, 
Sir Edward. 

Garter, Order of the, 47 n., 186. 

George I, coronation of, 260 n. 

Germany, princes of, 58, 88, 143; 
mentioned, 15 n. See also Em- 
pire. 

Gerrard, Sir Gilbert, accusations 
against Arlington, 68 n., 229, 
234; mentioned, 235 n. 

Gloucester, Henry, Duke of, 20. 

Godolphin, Sidney, later Earl of 
Godolphin, 190 n. 

Godolphin, Sir William, receives 
proposals from Medina de las 
Torres, 122 n. ; owes advance- 
ment to Arlington, 149; letter to 
(quoted), 186 n. 

Goeree, 198, 201 n. 

Gogh, Michael van, 87 n. 

Goring, George, Lord, 11. 

Goring House, 97, 103, 170-171, 
214, 252 n. 

Grafton, Isabella Bennet, Countess 
of Arlington, Countess of Eus- 
ton and Duchess of, her father's 
estate, 102 n. ; birth, 148; mar- 
riage, 168, 186-187, 255, 256-257; 
accompanies Arlington to Hoi- 



INDEX 



289 



land, 24S-246; admired by Sir 
John Evelyn, 256-257; gives 
birth to a son, 260; marries Sir 
Thomas Hanmer, 260 n. 

Grafton, Charles Fitzroy, second 
Duke of, 260. 

Grafton, Henry Fitzroy, Earl of 
Euston and Duke of, inherits 
Arlington's estate, 102 n., 232; 
marriage to Isabella Bennet, 168, 
186-187, 255, 256-257; joins 
Prince of Orange, 260 n. 

Grammont, Count de. Memoirs 
quoted, 41 n., 47, 233; men- 
tioned, 47 n. 

Grand Design, the (for the con- 
version of England), attitude of 
Arlington toward, 157, 209 n. ; 
Louis XIV to assist in, 165, 166, 
167; concealed from Protestants, 
173; confirmation by Charles II, 
174 n.; adjourned indefinitely, 
177-178; payment for demanded, 
178; reversion to, 185; revived 
by Arlington, 188; communicated 
to Queen of Spain, 188; Shaftes- 
bury and Ormonde informed of, 
209 ; Parliament aware of, 269 n. ; 
must be abandoned, 215. 

Gray's Inn, 3. 

Guelders, 197. 

Guernsey, 142. 

Guinea, 85 n. 

Gunfleet, the, 94. 

Gwyn, Nell, 181, 182. 

Hague, The, 2 n., 19, 77 n., 85 n., 
91 n., 100, 106, 130, 133, 143, 
149, 171 n., 172, 194, 200 n., 
211, 245, 246, 249. 

Hainault, province of, 86 n. 

Halifax, Sir George Savile, Vis- 
count, later Marquis of, ambassa- 
dor to Louis XIV, 190; his de- 
parture, 191; arrival at French 
camp, 197; advises moderation 
of the English demands, 197, 
231; his exclusion from the em- 
bassy, 212. 

Hampton Court, 98, 190, 213 n. 



Hanmer, Sir Thomas, 260 n. 

Hansa towns, 58. 

Harbord, Sir Charles, 235 n. 

Harbord, William, letters from 
(quoted), 236 n., 241 n., 250 n., 
250-251; mentioned, 235 n. 

Harlington, 4, 5, 8, 9, 88, 155. 

Haro, Don Luis de, favorite of 
Philip IV, 30, 31, 34-40, 43 n., 
45 n. 

Harvey, Elizabeth Montagu, Lady, 
98, 153 n., 160. 

Harwich, 107. 

Hatton, Christopher, Lord, letters 
from (quoted), 18 n,, 20, 21, 
22 n. 

Hatton, Christopher, Viscount, 
letters to (quoted), 204 n., 214 n. 

Heads of Illustrious Persons, by 
Birch, 47 n. 

Heeswick, Treaty of, 196, 197, 212, 
227, 231. 

Helvoetsluys, 201 n. 

Henrietta Maria, Queen of Eng- 
land, visits Oxford, s ; Lord Dig- 
by and, 14; Bennet and, 14, 16, 
22, 31 ; Duke of York and, 17, 24, 
3 1 ; angry at alliance with Spain, 
31; return to England, 54 n. ; 
letter from (quoted), 12 n. ; 
mentioned, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18. 

Heralds' Office, 88, 

History of my Own Time, by 
Bishop Burnet, quotations from, 
62 n., 136 n., 156 n., 176, 180, 
226 n., 246; mentioned, 256 n. 

Holland, treaty with, 84, 136 n. ; 
France and, 85, 126, 127; Eng- 
land and, 89, 126, 127, 144, 214, 
241 n. ; Silvius sent by Arlington 
to, 90; Orange party in, 90 n., 91 ; 
desirous of peace, 122; Arling- 
ton's affection for, 144, 158; Wil- 
liam of Orange and, 192, 195; 
States of, 194; descent on coasts 
planned, 217, 227; mission of 
Arlington and Ossory to, 244- 
245; project proposed by, 247 n. ; 
mentioned, 17, 27, 76 n., 93 n., 
95, 103, 121, 130, 131, 146, 161, 



290 



INDEX 



206, 212, 213 n., 227, 249; Grand 
Pensionary of, see De Witt, 
Fagel. See also Dutch, Nether- 
lands, States General. 

Holies, Denzil, Lord, ambassador 
to France, 54; represents Claren- 
don's party, 71 n. ; to negotiate, 
76, 121; opinion of France and 
Dutch, 82 n. ; instructions to, 
109 n. ; letters from (quoted), 
76 n., 82 n. ; letter to (quoted), 
82 n. 

Holmby House, 102. 

Holmes, Sir Robert, attacks Dutch 
Smyrna fleet, 183. 

Horn, Count of, 99. 

Horn, Countess of, 213 n. 

Hough, John, Bishop of Worcester, 
42 n.-43 n. 

Howard, William, later Lord How- 
ard of Escrick, 190 n. 

Howe, Mr., 235 n. 

Huguenots, 120, 213 n. 

Hyde, Sir Edward, see Clarendon. 

Impeachment, of Sir Francis Ba- 
con, 2; of Sir John Bennet, 2; 
of Clarendon, 68, 115-116; of 
Arlington, 68 n., 189 n., 228-229, 
234-236; of Danby, 250-251, 255- 
256. 

Indemnity, Act of, 62. 

Independents, 59. See also Dis- 
senters, Non-conformists. 

Indies, 58. 

Indulgence, first Declaration of, 61- 
66, 155, 185. 

Indulgence, second Declaration of, 
68 n., 184-185, 207-210, 227, 22g, 
231, 23s, 240. 

Ingoldsthorp, title of, 3 n. 

Intelligence, managed by the Sec- 
retaries of State, 59; superiority 
of Thurloe's organization, 92, 
138 n.; regarding Dutch fleet, 
93-94; money expended for, 
102 n., 138 n.; Arlington to 
account for failure of, 115, 137- 
138. See also Secret service. 



Ireland, Ormonde and, 13, 14, 49, 
152, 158-159; Cromwell's cam- 
paign in, 16; proposals to re- 
conquer, 16, 30-31, 33; Catholics 
in, 24, 156 n., 159 n. ; Irish 
troops, 27, 31, 33; afltairs of in 
Bennet's hands, 58; importation 
of cattle from, 96, 104; Arling 
ton's estate in, loi, 232; revenue, 
101-102, 138, 150, 151, 232; Ex 
planatory Act for, 10 1, 151; con 
test for government of, 150-153: 
Vice-Treasurer of, 151; Robartes 
appointed Lieutenant, 152-153: 
Lord Berkeley sent to govern 
159 n.; mentioned, 23, 65 n., 258 

Isbrandt, 135 n. 

Italy, 13, 58, 70, 220. 

Jamaica, 75. 

James I, i, 2, 3, 103. 

James II, see York. 

Jenkins, Sir Leoline, 234 n. 

Jermyn, Henry, see St. Albans. 

Jersey, 16, 142, 206. 

Jesus, Society of, members of, 2 n., 
44 n. ; to be banished from Eng- 
land, 66; their apprehension 
ordered, no. 

Jones, Roger, 223 n. 

Juan, Don, natural son of Philip 
IV, 26, 27. 

Keeper of the Seals, see Bridgman, 
Coventry, Finch. 

Keroualle, Louise de, see Ports- 
mouth. 

Killigrew, Sir Thomas, 7-8. 

Kingscot, 190 n. 

La Cloche, James, 178 n. 

Lane, Sir George, 58 n., 249 n. 

La Rochelle, 93. 

Latimer, Edward Osborne, Vis- 
count, 245. 

Laud, William, Bishop of London, 
later Archbishop of Canterbury, 
Chancellor of Oxford, 5, 8. 

Lauderdale, John Maitland, Earl, 
later Duke of. Secretary of State 



INDEX 



291 



for Scotland, 79, 80, 225; eager 
for war with France, 89; mem- 
ber of Committee of Foreign 
Affairs, 171- 172; negotiator of 
sham treaty with France, 173; 
opposition to Arlington, 1 73-174, 
205-206, 240-243, 245; member 
of Buckingham's faction, 176, 
223 n.; Charles II and, 180, 183, 
207-208, 217 n., 249; approves 
Declaration of Indulgence, 184; 
member of the Cabal, 185; duke 
in Scottish peerage, 186; Com- 
mons address the King for re- 
moval of, 220, 225, 238, 250; 
seeks friends in Parliament, 242 ; 
Williamson joins party of, 243; 
intrigues of William of Orange 
against, 244 n.; mentioned, 228, 
236 n., 251. 

LegCge], William, 12 n. 

Leighton, Sir Ellis, 119 n., 147. 

Lely, Sir Peter, 47 n. 

Leopold I, Emperor, friendship for 
England, 88; awaits Spain's 
leadership, 91; his envoys, 106, 
109 n., 171 n. ; fearful of France, 
119; instructions to Lisola, 121; 
his ■■ guarantee of the Peace of 
Aix, 143; his admission to the 
Triple Alliance refused, 171, 176- 
177; signs treaty of neutrality 
with France, 177 n. ; rejection 
of his overtures, 212; joins the 
Dutch against Louis XIV, 239. 

Letters from a Person of Quality 
to his Friend in the Country, 
250 n. 

Lionne, Hugues, Marquis de, Sec- 
retary of State to Louis XIV, 
advice to Ruvigny, 128; project 
of treaty drafted by, 128-129; 
not informed of Temple's depart- 
ure, 130; letters to (quoted), 
71 n., 82-83, 89, 93 n., 128, 
152 n., 159-160, 191-192. 

Lisbon, 149. 

Lisola, Franz Paul, Baron of, im- 
perial envoy, attempts peace 
negotiation with De Witt, 106, 



107, 108 n., 109 n. ; author of Le 
Bouclier d'Etat et de Justice, 
106; controls the Count de 
Molina, 121; Arlington's nego- 
tiations with, 130, 131; Commit- 
tee of Foreign Affairs awaits 
orders from, 133 n.; envoy to 
the Hague, 171, 171 n,; corre- 
spondence with Arlington, 171 n-. 
177 n. ; not the author of Eng- 
land's Appeal, 213 n. 

Little Saxham Parish Registers, 
88 n. 

Lockhart, Sir William, 36. 

Lodge's Portraits, 47 n. 

London, Lord Mayor, i n. ; alder- 
man of, 2 n.; in grip of Parlia- 
ment, 8; King's march on, 9; 
ardor of citizens for Dutch War, 
84 n.; Great Fire, 95; popularity 
of Buckingham in, 104; success 
of Dutch fleet, 109; Dutch offer 
to treat in, 206; mentioned, 45, 
60, 78, 99, 102, 103, 114, 133 n., 
170, 199, 200 n., 201, 237 n., 244, 
246, 252, 253 n., 255, 260 n. 

Long, Sir Robert, 138 n. 

Longford, Earl of, letter from 
(quoted), 259-260. 

Lords, House of, impeachment of 
Bacon in, 2; speeches of Bristol 
in, 50; speeches of Ashley in, 61, 
79, 209; bills brought into, 66, 
96, 104; impeachment of Claren- 
don attempted, 68; Arlington 
takes his seat, 87; disagreements 
with the House of Commons, 
116, 139, 178; attitude towards 
Declaration of Indulgence, 207- 
208; speech of Clifford against 
the Test Bill, 209; Test Act 
passed, 213; resents Bucking- 
ham's speech in the Commons, 
228; permits Arlington to defend 
himself to the Commons, 230, 
236 n. ; Court party in, 250; 
votes thanks for speech from the 
throne, 251 n. ; Arlington pres- 
ent in, 260-261. See also Parlia- 
ment. 



292 



INDEX 



Lorraine, Charles IV, Duke of, 
attempts to entrap the Duke of 
York, 16-17; his duchy seized by 
Louis XIV, 171; rejection of his 
overtures, 212; mentioned, 35, 
172. 

Louis XIV, King of France, pro- 
motes rebellion in Portugal, 52; 
relations with England, 52, 73, 
75, 76 n., 81-82, 83 n., 84-85, 90, 
91, 106, 107-108, 120, 123-129, 
134. 139, 141. 144-145, 157, 161- 
162, 164-167, 173-174, 178, 179- 
180, 188-192, 195-196, 198, 203, 
209, 211, 215, 222-223, 236, 245; 
relations with Bennet, 53-54, 81, 
85, 127-128, 141-142, 144-147, 
165-166, 168-170, 178, 179-180, 
190-192, 195-196, 211-212, 222; 
relations with the Dutch, yz, 75, 
81, 84, 85, 88, 106, 107-108, 119- 
120, 126, 127, 128-129, 134, 144, 
157, 166-167, 171 n., 182, 188, 
189-190, 195-197, 247 n. ; sale of 
Dunkirk to, 73; intentions as to 
Flanders, 82, 85, 86, 106, 108, 
119, 123-124, 129, 136; relations 
with Spain, 81-82, 91, 124, 128- 
129, 134, 166, 239-240; threatens 
Bishop of Miinster, 84; prepares 
for war, 85 n., 171 n., 175 n.; op- 
position from Lisola, 106; fears 
Lisola, 108 n.; relations with 
Buckingham, 123, 125, 126, 127, 
143, 147, 170, 173, 191, 194, 198; 
attempts to strengthen French 
marine, 125, 126; hesitates to 
make peace, 138, 139; prohibits 
importations of manufactures of 
Guernsey and Jersey, 142; in- 
terest in destruction of Triple 
Alliance, 144; instructions to 
Colbert, 144-145; Duchess of 
Orleans his intermediary with 
Charles II, 162, 166-167; seizes 
Duchy of Lorraine, 171; his 
prosperity desired by Lauderdale 
and Ashley, 173-174; successes 
in Dutch War, 188, 194; embassy 
from Charles II, 190-192, 196, 



198; his liberality, 211; impos- 
sible demands, 212; letter from 
(quoted), 146; letters to 
(quoted), 52 n., 57 n., 61 n., 
67 n., 68 n., 72 n., 113 n., 114, 
115, 115 n., 121, 123 n., 130, 158, 
164, 171 n., 176, 177, 209 n., 
211 n., 215 n., 218 n., 220, 223 n., 
241 n,, 242-243, 245, 250 n., 251; 
mentioned, 35, 37, 77 »•» 9i, 
100, 192, 206; ambassadors of, 
see D'Estrades, Comenge, Celkhre 
Amhassade, Ruvigny, Croissy. 

Louvain, University o^, 2 n. 

Louvestein party, 100, 193. 

Low Countries, 17. 

Lowe, Elizabeth, 2 n. 

Lowe, Sir Thomas, 2 n. 

Loyola, Don Blasco de, 87 n. 

Liineburg, Duke of, 91. 

Luxemburg, duchy, 124, 

Lymington, 87. 

Lyttelton, Sir Charles, letters from 
(quoted), 204 n., 214 n. 

Lyttelton, Sir Thomas, adherent of 
Arlington, 116, 152; admission 
to Council prevented, 149; shares 
with Osborne Treasurership of 
the Navy, 152; mentioned, 235 n. 

Madrid, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 

38, 39, 40, 45 n., 86 n., 106, 120, 

122, 144, 149. 
Maeslandsluys, 193. 
Maestricht, 247 n. 
Maria of Modena, later Duchess of 

York and Queen of England, 

marriage, 219, 220; with child, 

248. 
Marvell, Andrew, attacks Arlington 

in House of Commons, 137-138; 

doggerel by (quoted), 175 n. 
Marylebone Park, 102. 
Master of the Horse, 69 n., 149, 

226, 228, 
Mazarin, Jules, Cardinal, makes a 

treaty with Cromwell, 19, 22; 

distrusted by Bennet, 24-25 ; 

quarrel with Digby, 26; negoti- 



INDEX 



293 



ates Peace of the Pyrenees, 34- 

37- 

Mazarin, Hortense MancinI, Duch- 
ess of, 253-254- 

Medina de las Torres, Duke of, 
122 n. 

Med way River, 109. 

Meerman, John, Dutch ambassador, 
130, 131- 

Meres, Sir Thomas, 235 n. 

Middlesex, 4. 

Middleton, John, Earl of. Com- 
missioner to the Scottish Parlia- 
ment, 79. 

Milton, John, nephew of, 258. 

Modena, Maria of, see Maria. 

Molina, Count of, Spanish am- 
bassador to England, negotia- 
tions with the English ministers, 
86-87, 91, 130-131, 133 n.; offers 
mediation of Spain to the States 
General, 87 n. ; would make 
peace between England and the 
Dutch, 89; Clarendon's opinion 
of, 121. 

Monck, see Albemarle. 

Monmouth, James Fitzroy, Duke 
of, 228, 241, 242, 258. 

Montagu, Edward, Master of the 
Horse, 69 n. 

Montagu, Ralph, his sister. Lady 
Harvey, 98; owes advancement 
to Arlington, 149; friendship 
with Arlington, 153 n., 253 n.; 
persuades Louis XIV to forego 
contingent of English troops, 
179-180; dismisses Du Moulin, 
213 n.; planned impeachment of 
Danby, 256; letter from 
(quoted), 163, 168 n. 
Monterey, Count of, 198, 199. 
Montpelier, 188. 
Moor Park, 99. 

Morice, Sir William, Secretary of 
State, 56; division of business 
with Bennet, 58; member of 
Committee of Foreign Affairs, 
70; opposes division of the fleet, 
93; jealous of Arlington, 129; 
money allowed him for Intelli- 



gence, 138 n.; resigns Secretary- 
ship of State, 149; letter to 
(quoted), 58 n. 
Miinster, Christoph Bernhard von 
Galen, Bishop of, 84-85, 89, 91. 

Naseby, battle of, 13- 
Navy, Commissioners of, 109, no; 
Vice-Treasurer of, 151, 152, 163. 
Netherlands, Spanish, governor- 
general of, 2 n., 99, 198, 199; 
defense of, 29, i33, ^35; 
abandoned by Charles II, 81- 
82; coveted by France, 82, 86, 
89; conquests of Louis XIV in, 
108; cessions of towns in, 124. 
See also Flanders. 
Netherlands, United Provinces of, 
attacked by the Bishop of Miin- 
ster, 84; must guarantee Peace 
of Aix-la-Chapelle, 143; league 
with Charles II proposed, 170, 
247; William of Orange Stad- 
holder of, 193; sovereignty 
offered William of Orange, 196, 
199; mentioned, 177 n., 188, 192. 
See also Dutch, Holland, States 
General. 

Newbury, second battle of, 11. 

Newmarket, 4, 102, 182, 254. 

Nicholas, Sir Edward, Secretary of 
State, jealous of Bennet, 23, 
26 n.; belongs to part of Claren- 
don, 49, 70; removed from Sec- 
retaryship of State, 56-57; letters 
from (quoted), 23, 25 n., 45 n., 
57 n.; letters to (quoted), 18 n., 
20, 21, 22 n., 33; mentioned, 19, 
40 n., 45 n., 73. 

Nieuport, 127. 

Non-conformists, 61-65. See also 
Dissenters, Independents, Pres- 
byterians. 

Nore, the, 193 n. 

Norfolk, 182. 

North, Roger, 261. 

Northumberland, Josceline Percy, 
Earl of, 186. 

Norway, 237. 



294 



INDEX 



Norwich, Charles Goring, Earl of, 
103. 

Oblivion, Act of, 15. 

Odyke, Lord, Dutch ambassador, 
244-246. 

O'Neill, General Daniel, not a dan- 
gerous rival to Hyde, 18; in 
attendance on the Princess of 
Orange, 19; King's leaning to 
Catholicism, 43 n. ; procures re- 
newal of treaty of 1630, 44 n. ; 
obtains recall of Bennet from 
Spain, 45; puzzled by Bennet's 
attitude towards Clarendon, 69; 
succeeds to place of Postmaster- 
General, 10 1 ; letters from 
(quoted), 21 n., 51 n., 55, 57 n., 
67 n., 69 n. ; letter to (quoted), 
26 n. ; mentioned, 43 n., 51 n., 
5 6. 

Orange, Amelie of Solms, dowager 
Princess of, 100, 200 n. 

Orange, Mary, Princess of, daugh- 
ter of Charles I, 17, 19. 

Orange, Mary, Princess of, later 
Queen of England, marriage to 
William of Orange, 241, 244, 
248, 254-255. 

Orange, Maurice of Nassau, Prince 
of, 98. 

Orange, William III of Nassau, 
Prince of, later King of Eng- 
land, concessions in his behalf 
demanded of the Dutch, 85 n. ; 
suggested for ambassador to 
Charles II, 90 n. ; reaction in his 
favor feared, 91; loyalty of Lady 
Arlington to, 148; relations with 
Arlington, 148-149, 170-171, 194- 
202, 215, 240-242, 244, 246-248, 
249 n., 254-255, 256, 258; ad- 
mitted to the States of Zealand, 
149 n. ; visits England, 170, 254, 
258; becomes Stadholder, 193; 
elevation to sovereignty pro- 
posed, 192, 195-196; should de- 
liver Dutch fleet to the Duke of 
York, 193-194; negotiates for 
peace, 194-195; Buckingham's 



fickleness towards, 195-196; asks 
French and English conditions 
of peace, 197; advised to send 
deputies to London and Paris, 
198-199; his agents in England, 
200, 201 n. ; tampering with Par- 
liament, 201, 213 n. ; may be 
treated like De Witt, 202; Du 
Moulin in his employment, 213; 
accepts mediation of Charles II, 
239; marriage to Princess Mary, 
241, 244-245, 248, 254-255; 
Silvius the creature of, 242; mis- 
sion of Arlington and Ossory to, 
244-249; intrigues in Scotland, 
244, 246; relations with Charles 
II, 246, 247; proposes conditions 
of peace with France, 247 ; shows 
favor to Danby, 254; letters 
from (quoted), 202, 254 n. ; men- 
tioned, 99. 

Orange, House of, partisans desire 
peace with England, 90 n., 91; 
affection of Lady Arlington for, 
148; Arlington acts against the 
interests of, 148-149. 

Orford, 49 n. 

Orleans, Henriette Anne, Duchess 
of, Buckingham intrigues with, 
140, 159; Arlington seeks her 
favor, 159, 1 60- 161; intermediary 
between Charles II and Louis 
XIV, 1 61-162, 164-165; negotiates 
Treaty of Dover, 166-167; dis- 
trust of Arlington, 167 n. ; ar- 
ranges marriage of Arlington's 

■ daughter, 168; return to France, 
170; death, 170, 173, 231; letters 
to (quoted), 142 n., 158 n,, 
159 n., 160-161, 160 n.; men- 
tioned, 157 n., 180. 

Ormonde, James Butler, Marquis, 
later Duke of. Lord Lieutenant 
of Ireland, 13; obliged to resign, 
14; again in Ireland, 16; Arling- 
ton's friendship with, 21, 22 n., 
51, 99, 162, 214, 216, 236; treaty 
with the Irish Catholics, 24; 
sent to conciliate the Duke of 
York, 27; opposes announcement 



INDEX 



295 



of the conversion of Charles II, 
42; aware of Charles's leaning to 
Catholicism, 43 n. ; supporter of 
Clarendon, 49, 51; government 
of Ireland restored to, 49; does 
not promote Bennet's fortunes, 
si; his secretary, 58 n.; contest 
with Buckingham for Lieuten- 
ancy, 150-153; explanation of 
Arlington's conduct regarding, 
i53> 158-159; policy towards the 
Irish Catholics, 156; the King's 
reasons for removing Ormonde, 
159; attempts the impeachment 
of Orrery, 164; overruled in the 
Committee of Foreign Afifairs, 
171; his opinion of Arlington, 
187; opposes French alliance, 
215; proposes sending the Duke 
of York from Court, 221; leader 
of Dutch party, 223; votes 
against exhibiting the French 
treaty to the Commons, 224; has 
obtained vast sums, 227; exclu- 
sion of papists from the succes- 
sion, 240; letters from (quoted), 
12 n,, 26 n., 151 n. ; letters to 
(quoted), 13, 39, 51 n., 55, 57 n., 
60 n., 61 n., 62 n., 65 n., 6y n., 
69 n., 72, 75 n., -jy, 80 n., 86 n., 
90, 90 n., 92, 93 n., 94 n., 96, 
96 n., 109, no, 112, 112 n., 134, 
136 n., 138, 139, 156 n., 257, 259, 
259-260; mentioned, 58, 65 n., 
226, 258, 

Orrery, Roger Boyle, Lord Brog- 
hill. Earl of, 163-164. 

Ossory, Thomas Butler, Earl of, 
marriage to Emilia of Bever- 
waert, 99; arranges Arlington's 
marriage, 99; quarrels with 
Buckingham, 104; covets place 
of Master of the Horse, 149; 
friendship with Arlington, 150, 
230, 260; mission to Holland, 
244; failure as a diplomat, 247- 
248; conduct condemned by 
Danby, 248-249; return to Eng- 
land, 249; death, 260; letters to 
(quoted), 151 n., 153; mentioned, 
12 n., 254 n. 



Ostend, 127, 
Oudenarde, 247 n. 
Overyssel, province of, 90 n. 
Oxford, town of, 8, 9, 11, 87, 259. 
Oxford, University of, i n., 2, 3, 

5, 6, 8. 
Oxfordshire, i. 

Paddington, 87. 

Palais Royal, 20, 21. 

Palmer, Barbara, see Cleveland. 

Palmer, Sir Geoffrey, Attorney- 
General, 55 n- 

Paris, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 
25, 31, 37, 45 n., 81, 105, 108 n., 
149, 163, 173, 199, 201, 220. 

Parliament, during Civil War, 4 n., 
8, 9 n., II, 14, 36; Cavalier Par- 
liament, 48; Bennet a member 
of, 48-49; in session, 48, 65, 78, 
87, 95, 103, no, 112, 114, 136, 
137, 162, 178, 180, 185, 200, 201, 
202, 206, 210, 211 n., 215, 217, 
218 n., 219, 221, 222, 22^, 230, 
250, 255, 259; contests on re- 
ligious matters with the Court, 
52, 62, 63, 64, 65-68, 207-209; 
prorogued, 59, 96, 104, no, 139, 
152, 164, 178, 179, 202-203, 212, 
213, 214 n., 218, 219, 220, 221, 
233, 235, 240, 251; relations with 
Bennet, 60, 77-79, 80 n., 95-96, 
113-116, 123, 136, 137-139, 152, 
176, 200-203, 204, 206-207, 

209 n., 216, 217-219, 221-222, 

226, 228-236, 237, 238, 240, 
241 n., 242, 250-252, 255-256, 
260-261; Convention Parliament, 
62 n.; junto intended to control, 

79, 80 n.; supports first Dutch 
War, 79, 80, 87; grants supply, 

80, 87, 175; threatens Sir W. 
Coventry, 95, 115; Buckingham's 
relations with, 96, 103-104, 112- 
113, 115-117, 139, 152, 163-164, 
168, 176, 178, 206, 208, 223-224, 
225-228; disputes between the 
Houses, 116, 124, 178, 207; atti- 
tude towards the French alliance, 
121, 162, 206; withholds supply, 
122; influence of Royal African 



296 



INDEX 



and East India Companies in, 
140; threatens Ormonde, 150; 
misled by Bridgman, 175 n.; fac- 
tions in, 176, 202', attitude 
towards second Dutch War, 188, 
201, 202, 215, 216, 218 n., 219, 
221, 226, 239; intrigues of 
William of Orange with, 200, 
201, 213 n. ; dissolution con- 
sidered, 208-209; questions pro- 
pounded to, 212; Charles II 
anxious to placate, 221; severity 
towards Catholics, 230 n. ; 
threatens to attack ministers, 
230 n.; informed of Dutch offers 
for peace, 237 n. ; Lauderdale out 
of reach of, 238; York, Lauder- 
dale, and Danby seek support in, 
242; Danby endeavors to obtain 
imonefy grants, 256 n. ;■ men- 
tioned, I, 50, 163, 211. See also 
Lords, Commons. 

Patrick, Father, 189 n. 

Pembroke College, i n., 5. 

Pepys, Samuel, quotations from his 
diary, 48 n., 67 n., 71, 95, 97, 
104, 105, IIS, 118, 136 n., 
138 n. ; mentioned, 98 n., no n., 
261. 

Pett, Sir Peter, Commissioner of 
the Navy, 109. 

Philip IV, King of Spain, treaty 
with Charles II, 29; Bennet's 
audience with, 31; gift to 
Charles II, 38; gift to Bennet, 
40; his Court, 41; death, 86; 
mentioned, 24 n., 35, 36, 37, 
44 n., 45 n. 

Phillips, Edward, 258. 

Poland, 58. 

Poll-bill, 138 n. 

Pomponne, Simon Arnauld, Mar- 
quis de, letters to (quoted), 181, 
205 n., 211 n., 216 n., 222 n., 
224, 243 n., 249, 252, 253, 
253 n. ; quotation from his mem- 
oirs, 183 n. ; mentioned, 253. 

Pope, the, assistance asked for 
Charles I, 12; Bennet advises 
asking his aid for Charles II, 41- 



42 ; " letters of the Pope's cabi- 
net ", 137; expected to contrib- 
ute money for the conversion of 
England, 15S, 189; counsel 
sought by Charles II, 189. 

Popery, Bennet suspected of a 
lapse into, 41 ; Charles II denies 
yearning for, 63; bill against, 
66; execution of laws against, 
no; popular hatred of, 219; 
kingdom to be secured against, 
220; popular obsession of prev- 
alence, 221; Court suspected of 
intention to bring in, 224; Ar- 
lington accused of promoting, 
229. 

Popish Plot, 256. 

Portsmouth, Louise de Keroualle, 
Duchess of, installed in the affec- 
tions of Charles II, 180-182; 
maid of honor, 180; visits Eus- 
ton Hall, 181-182; coldness 
towards Arlington, 182, 253; 
made Duchess of Portsmouth, 
253; plot to replace her by the 
Duchess of Mazarin, 254; Mon- 
tagu in the bad graces of, 253 n. 

Portugal, relations with England, 
2i, 43, 44 n., 52, 73, 74-75, 86, 
120, 189; relations with Spain, 
29, 31, 33, 43-44, 52, 73, 75, 
82 n., 86, 120; relations with 
France, 52, 82 n.; mentioned, 58, 
231. 

Postmaster General, office of, prom- 
ised to Bennet, S4-55; farmed 
out to H. Bishop, 55 ; O'Neill 
succeeds Bishop, 10 1; Arlington 
succeeds O'Neill, loi; returns 
from, 10 1 n. 

Post Office, supervised by the Sec- 
retaries of State, 59; mentioned, 
57, 66. See also Postmaster 
General. 

Powell, Auditor, 9 n. 

Presbyterians, Act of Uniformity, 
59; their exemption, 60; dis- 
approve first Declaration of In- 
dulgence, 6s n. ; mentioned, 62, 
76, IS9 n. 



INDEX 



297 



Press, 59- 

Priests, Roman Catholic, 66, no, 
261. 

Prince, The, flagship of the Duke 
of York, 193 n. 

Privy Council, members, 19, 96, 
228; Bennet admitted to, 56; 
committees of, 59, 68; Bucking- 
ham examined by, 104; Sir P. 
Pett examined by, 109; sum- 
moned to advise the King, no; 
French ambassador proposes to 
exclude Arlington from, 128; 
admission of Andover and 
Lyttelton prevented, 149; W. 
Coventry dismissed, 159 n. ; 
called to hear reasons for pro- 
rogation of Parliament, 203; 
business withheld from, 212; 
mentioned, 44 n., 49, 50, 51, 52, 
72, T7, 258. See also Foreign 
Affairs, Committee of. 

Privy Purse, 52, 53. 

Privy Seal, 62. 

Prizes, Commission of, 81, 83. 

Protestants, refuse toleration, 64; 
Charles II suggests measures for 
the comprehension of, 137, 139; 
Treaty of Dover not communi- 
cated to, 173; bill for the relief 
of, 208; mentioned, 155, 156, 
231. 

Puritan, 65 n. 

Puteanus, see Putte. 

Putte, Hendrik van der, 2 n. 

Pyrenees, Peace of, negotiation of, 
34-37, 41 n.; limits of France 
according to, 131, 239-240. 

Recusants, 177. 

Reede, Frederic van, secretary of 

the Prince of Orange, 200 n., 

202. 
Regicides, 62 n. 
Restoration, 12, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 

42, 56, 62, 7z, 98, 99, III, 257. 
Rhine, 194. 
Robartes, Sir John, Lord, Privy 

Seal, 62; bill introduced by, 66; 

his admission to the Committee 



of Foreign Affairs, 68, 119; an 
adherent of Buckingham, 129; 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 152- 
153; recalled, 159 n. 

Roman Catholic Church, Bristol's 
conversion to, 41, 43 n. ; con- 
version of Charles II, 42, 43 n., 
154, 15s; Bennet a convert, 
43 n. ; England to be recovered 
for, 154; Duke of York a con- 
vert, 155, 210; Clifford's con- 
version, 155; Arlington not in- 
clined to, 157; enthusiasm of 
Charles II for, declining, 166; 
Arlington reconciled to, 261; 
mentioned, 65 n. See also 
Roman Catholics. 

Roman Catholics, freedom of wor- 
ship for, 24, 197; Catholics in 
Ireland, 24, 156 n., 159 n.; plans 
for relief of, 42, 52, 62, 63; no 
toleration extended, 65; Arling- 
ton's attitude towards, 155, 
156 n., 157, 221, 231, 240, 240 n., 
261-262; sent away from Court, 
221; severity of Parliament 
towards, 230 n. ; exclusion from 
the succession proposed, 240, 
241; Danby's attitude, 256; men- 
tioned, 155, 156, 219. See also 
Roman Catholic Church. 

Rome, 12, 13, 41, 70, 178, 189. 

Rompf, Doctor, physician of the 
dowager Princess of Orange and 
agent of William of Orange, 
200 n., 201 n. 

Royal African Company, assiento 
demanded of Spain for, 74; 
Bennet a shareholder, 74; in- 
fluence at Court, 140. 

Royal Charles, carried off by the 
Dutch fleet, 109. 

Royalists, 8, 9, 16, 22, 24, 30, 33, 
34- 

Rupert, Prince, military master of 
Charles I, 10; Vice- Admiral of 
the English fleet, 93-94; recalled, 
94-95 ; participates in Four Days' 
Battle, 95; unable to understand 
foreign affairs, 129; could have 



INDEX 



prevented division of the fleet, 
138; advises postponing declara- 
tion of war, 183; accuses French 
squadron of cowardice, 217; 
mentioned, 9, 96, 193 n., 226 n. 

Russia, 58. 

Rutland, John Manners, Earl of, 
letter to (quoted), 260. 

Ruvigny, Henri de Massue, Mar- 
quis de, stimulates Buckingham's 
ambitions, 119 n.; misled by 
Leighton, 119 n. ; instructed to 
conclude an alliance between 
France and England, 120; recep- 
tion of his proposals by Charles 
II, 121, 123; opposition from 
Arlington, 121-123; conferences 
with Buckingham and Arlington, 
124-127; reports terms offered by 
Louis XIV to Spain, 124, 131, 
134; fears Arlington's influence 
over Charles II, 125, 128; sanc- 
tions Arlington's memorandum, 
126-127, 135; puzzled by Ar- 
lington's diplomacy, 126, 133; 
communicates project of alliance, 
128-129; unaware of negotiations 
culminating in alliance between 
England and the Dutch, 130; 
Committee of Foreign Affairs 
awaits his offers, 133 n.; holds 
Arlington responsible for Triple 
Alliance, 135 n. ; intrigue with 
Buckingham, 140; Arlington 
evades his proposals of an alli- 
ance with France, 141- 142; re- 
called, 143; his report, 145; 
again ambassador to England, 
223; advises Charles II as to 
conciliation of House of Com- 
mons, 224; asked to obtain Louis 
XIV's consent to a separate 
peace for England, 236; re- 
assured by Charles II, 236-237; 
protests against marriage of the 
Princess Mary to William of 
Orange, 244-245; letters from 
(quoted), 113 n., 114, "S, 
115 n., 121, 123 n., 224, 241 n., 
242-243, 245, 249, 250 n., 251, 



252, 253, 253 n.; mentioned, 115, 
149 n., 247. 

Sacheverell, Mr., 235 n. 

St. Albans, Henry Jermyn, Lord 
Jermyn, later Earl of, a favorite 
of Queen Henrietta Maria, 17; 
dislikes Bennet, 21; Duke of 
York and, 24; negotiates for 
peace with France, 105; his fail- 
ure, 107; De Witt informed of 
his endeavors, 108 n. ; mentioned, 
16 n. 

St. Christopher's, 120 n. 

Saint-Evremond, Charles de Mar- 
guetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur 
of, 103, 210. 

St. Germain, Court of, 14, 54. 

St. James, Court of, 143. 

St. James's Park, 103. 

St. John's Wood, 102. 

St. Nicholas, church of, 4. 

St. Omer, 178 n., 247 n., 

Salisbury, 2 n. 

Sandwich, Edward Montagu, Earl 
of, tries to conciliate Bennet, 
71; ambassador at Madrid, 120; 
letters to (quoted), 107 n., 122, 
123 n., 131. 

San Sebastian, 48. 

Santa Cruz, 32. 

Savoy, 25, 58. 

Saxham, 3, 4, 102, 205 n. 

Schomberg, Frederick Henry, Duke 
of, 227, 231. 

Scotland, Covenant signed, 7; war 
in, 7-8; Charles II in, 16, 17; 
royal Commissioner in, 79; Lau- 
derdale's administration in, 80, 
22s; intrigues of the Prince of 
Orange in, 244, 246; Duke of 
York exiled to, 258; mentioned, 
186; Secretary of State for, see 
Lauderdale. 

Scroope, Mary Carr, Lady, 98. 

Secretaryship of State, office of, 
aspirants, 2, 23, 26, 38; appoint- 
ments, 10, 26, 43, 56-57. 149; 
removals, 41. 56-57; under 
Hyde's direction, 44 n. ; responsi- 



INDEX 



299 



bilities, 57-59, 92; Morice re- 
signs, 149; Clifford performs 
duties of, 193; Arlington accused 
of betraying trust, 229; Arling- 
ton resigns, 241 n., 243; for 
Scotland, see Lauderdale. 

Secret service, administered by the 
Secretaries of State, 59, 92; cost 
of, loi n., 102 n., 232. See also 
Intelligence. 

Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley 
Cooper, Lord Ashley and Earl 
of Shaftesbury, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer, 61-62; supports first 
Declaration of Indulgence, 62, 
64; speech of, 66; favorite of 
Charles II, 67 n. ; admission to 
Committee of Foreign Affairs, 
68; advocate of the Dutch Wars, 
79, 172; Treasurer of the Com- 
mission of Prizes, 81; promotes 
the Cattle Bill, 96; negotiator of 
the sham treaty with France, 
173-174; in agreement with 
Buckingham, 176; falls in with 
anti-French sentiment in the 
Commons, 178; arouses the 
King's displeasure, 179, 180; 
advises notifying the Dutch am- 
bassador of an embargo, 183; 
approves the Stop on tiie Ex- 
chequer, 184; second Declaration 
of Indulgence, 184, 207-208, 210; 
member of the Cabal, 185; be- 
comes Earl of Shaftesbury, 186; 
argues against proroguing Par- 
liament, 202-203; appointed Lord 
Chancellor, 203 ; speech in favor 
of the Test bill, 209; the French 
ambassador's explanation of his 
conduct, 209-210; out of favor 
with Charles II and York, 213- 
214; turns against the French 
alliance, 214; frienship with Ar- 
lington, 214-215, 216, 223, 230, 
236, 240, 256, 259; popularity 
with the House of Commons, 
216; obtains a pardon of Charles 
II, 217 n. ; declines to uphold the 
Court, 219-220, 223; leader of the 



pro-Dutch party, 223; dismissed 
from the Chancellorship, 223; 
account of his conduct by Buck- 
ingham, 226; associates himself 
with the Country Party, 238; 
agitation against papists, 240, 
241; Arlington's relations with 
his party, 250, 255, 256; pam- 
phlet attributed to, 250 n. ; anec- 
dote concerning, 259; imprisoned 
in the Tower, 259; petitions for 
leave, 259; mentioned, 188, 204. 

Sheers, Mr., 122 n. 

Sheldon, Gilbert, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, 65 n., 187. 

Shrewsbury, Anna Maria Bru- 
denell. Countess of, 170. 

Shrewsbury, Francis Talbot, Earl 
of, 139- 

Silvius, Sir Gabriel, 90, 91, 242. 

Sluys, 192, 198, 201 n. 

Smyrna fleet, Dutch, its where- 
abouts, 93 n.; attacked, 183; 
responsibility for the attack, 227, 
233. 

Southampton, Thomas Wriothesley, 
Earl of. Treasurer of England, 
supporter of Clarendon, 49; his 
niece married to Ashley, 61; 
member of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, 70; opposes the 
Dutch War, 79, 80; approves 
the decision not to send out the 
fleet, 107 n. ; his death, no; 
intelligence money expended, 
138 n. 

Southwell, Sir Robert, owes ad- 
vancement to Arlington, 149; 
letters from (quoted), 236 n., 
257; letters to (quoted), 107, 
211 n. ; mentioned, 213 n. 

Southwold Bay, defeat of the 
Dutch fleet in, 188. 

Spain, army of, 15 n., 24, 25, 26, 
27, 31, 33; relations with Eng- 
land, 22, 41, 43-44, 73-75, 81-82, 
84 n., 85-89, 91, 92, 120-123, 125- 
129, 131-132, 134, 155, 166, 188, 
214, 215, 239-240; relations with 
France, 22, 34, 73, 75, 82, 84 n., 



30O 



INDEX 



86, 89, 91, 119, 122, 124, 125, 
128-129, 132-134, 143, 166, 215, 
239-240, 247 n.; navy, 23, 38; 
alliance with Charles II, 23-24, 

26, 29, 38; ministers of, 24, 26, 

27, 29, 32; Bennet represents 
Charles II in, 26, 28 n.; Bennet's 
sojourn, 29-45; relations with 
Portugal, 29, 31, 33, 43-44, 52, 
73, 75, 82 n., 86, 120; condition 
of the monarchy, 29, 33; Council 
of, 30, 31, 32, 3Z, 34, 87 n., 92; 
Court of, 39, 106; Bennet's 
policy regarding, 40-41, 43-44, 
48, 51-52, 54, 74-75, 81-82, 84, 
85-87, 89-90, 122, 126-127, 131- 
132, 144, 146, 158, 161, 215, 216, 
23 1 ; relations with the Dutch, 
86, 87 n., 119-120, 122, 188, 198, 
215, 239; relations with the Em- 
peror, 91, 119, 121; delays pay- 
ment of subsidies due Sweden, 
143; queen of, 122 n., 188; men- 
tioned, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 
44, 46, 48, 49, so, 58, 70, 137, 
161, 186 n.; king of, see Philip 
IV; ambassadors, see Batteville, 
Fresno, Molina. 

Stadholder, see Orange, William 
III, Prince of. 

Stafford, William Howard, Vis- 
count, 62 n. 

Star Chamber, Court of, 3. 

States General of the United Prov- 
inces of the Netherlands, forces 
of, 84; Spain well disposed 
towards, 87 n. ; not disposed to 
sue for peace, 89; proposal of 
Overyssel to, 90 n. ; embassies 
sent to England by, 98, 120- 121, 
252; treaties of the Triple Alli- 
ance with, 13s; English mercan- 
tile class opposes agreement with, 
140; deputies from, 189-190, 201; 
England's demands, 192; ma- 
ligned by the citizens of Maes- 
landsluys, 193; alliance with 
England proposed, 194; terms 
offered by Louis XIV, 197; not 
expected to accept the English 



and French terms, 198; Charles 
II advised by the Commons to 
make peace with, 237; Treaty of 
Westminster concluded, 2Z7- 
See also Dutch, Holland, Nether- 
lands. 

Stewart, Frances, later Duchess of 
Richmond, 68, 97, 181. 

Stuarts, royal family of the, 15. 

Suffolk, 3, 102, 182. 

Sunderland, Robert Spencer, Earl 
of, 186 n. 

Supremacy, Oath of, 208, 260. 

Surinam, claims of English sub- 
jects in, 162, 192, 237. 

Sweden, England and, 88; her 
mediation offered, 91, 124, 
218 n. ; Triple Alliance con- 
cluded, 135; peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, 143; subsidies prom- 
ised by Spain, 143; ambassador 
of 171 n. ; mentioned, 58. 

Switzerland, 58, 143. 

Taaffe, see Carlingford. 

Talbot, , 12 n. 

Talbot, Sir John, 235 n. 

Talbot, Peter, Jesuit priest, 44 n. 

Tangier, restitution demanded by 
Spain, 75 ; obtained by England, 
189; sale suggested, 189. 

Tellier, Michel (Le), letters to 
(quoted), 35 n., 36-37- 

Temple, Sir John, letters to 
(quoted), 135 n., 143 n., 172, 
25s. 

Temple, Sir Richard, 65 n. 

Temple, Sir William, agent of 
Charles II, 84; negotiation of 
treaties of the Triple Alliance, 
130-135; opposition to the Triple 
Alliance, 140, 143; relies on Ar- 
lington and Bridgman, 141; sent 
to the Hague, 143; Arlington 
and, 148, 149, 154, 172; his work 
for the Alliance hampered, 162, 
170, 171 n. ; recalled, 172; at- 
tempts to reconcile Arlington 
and Danby, 251-252; rejoices 
over the Prince of Orange's neg- 



INDEX 



301 



lect of Arlington, 254; letters 
from (quoted), 135 n., 143 n., 
172, 22Z n., 255; letters to 
(quoted), 84-85, 148, 154; men- 
tioned, 98, no, 245 n., 246 n. 

Tesdale, Elizabeth, i n. 

Tesdale, Thomas, i n., 5. 

Test Act, 208-210, 213, 214. 

Texel, 93- 

Theobald's, 3. 

Thetford, Arlington created Vis- 
count Thetford, 186. 

Thurloe, John, Secretary of State 
during the Protectorate, 92, 
138 n. 

Thynne, Thomas, 206 n., 235 n. 

Totnes, Sir T. Clifford, member 
for, 78. 

Tower of London, 62 n,, 104, 109, 
116, 201 n., 213 n., 259. 

Trade and Plantations, Council of, 
213 n- 

Treasurer of England, 61, 80, 
no n., 203, 204, 205, 213, 214, 
256. See also Southampton, 
Clifford, Danby, Treasury, Com- 
mission of. 

Treasury, books, 40; emptiness of, 
109; Commissioners of, iio-iii, 
140-141, i43» IS9 n-, 203-204, 
232; Arlington denies receiving 
money from, 232. See also 
Exchequer. 

Trevor, Sir John, Secretary of 
State, 149; defender of the 
Triple Alliance, 149-150, 171; 
has charge of Dutch affairs, 154; 
his assurances blind Van Beun- 
ingen, 170; death, 186; forced 
into the background because of 
his Dutch sympathies, 212. 

Trevor, Lady, 153 n. 

Triple Alliance, conclusion of 
treaties forming, 135; responsi- 
bility for, 135 n., 136, 22^^-227; 
popular approval in England, 
136, 140; Arlington's attitude 
towards, 136, 141, 143, 145-146, 
148-149, 165, 170, 172, 227, 231, 
239; its reception by Parliament, 



136, 137, 175; Buckingham's atti- 
tude towards, 140, 176, 22^-227, 
231; opposition to, 140-141, 162, 
172; supported by Bridgman, 
141, 17s, 179; its destruction 
important to Louis XIV, 144; 
its formation the conception of 
De Witt, 148-149; defended by 
Trevor, 149-150; England and 
France engage to maintain it, 
166; England represented as 
willing to abide by it, 170 n. ; 
admission of Emperor refused, 
171, 176-177, 212; its protection 
sought by the Duke of Lorraine, 
171; practical abandonment of, 
185; its death agonies rehearsed, 
21 1-2 12; contemplated reversion 
to, 216, 239; mentioned, 157. 

Turenne, Henri d e la Tour 
d'Auvergne, Viscount de, 24, 
167 n. 

Turkey, 58. 

Turnham Green, 9. 

Uniformity, Act of, 59-61, 64. 
United Provinces, see Netherlands, 

United Provinces of. 
Utrecht, 196. 

Verneuil, Gaston-Henri, Duke of, 
member of the Celkhre Am- 
hassade, 82. 

Vienna, 106, 177 n. 

Vierendeels, Leonora, 2. 

Vique (or Vic), Baron de, 211 n., 
213 n. 

Voorne, 198. 

Walcheren, 198. 

Walker, Sir Edward, Garter king- 

at-arms, 3 n., 11 h. 
Waller, Sir William, 11. 
Wallingford, i. 
Weekes, Anne, 2 n. 
Weekes, Christopher, 2 n. 
Wentworth, Margaret, 88 n. 
Wentworth of Nettlested, Thomas, 

Lord, 88 n. 



302 



INDEX 



Wentworth, Berkshire family of, 
88 n. 

West Indies, conquest made by 
England in, 23 ; freedom of trade 
for English ships with, 74; res- 
titution of English islands taken 
by France, 120 n. ; proposed to 
open free ports in, 122 n. ; con- 
quest of Spanish colonies in, 129. 

Westminster School, 5. 

Westminster Supper, 5. 

Westminster, Treaty of, its terms, 
237; reception in England, 239; 
mentioned, 242, 246. 

Wheeler, Sir Charles, 235 n. 

Whigism, 255, 256 n. 

Whitehall, 56, 7z, "2, 158, 249. 

Wight, Isle of, 206. 

Williamson, Sir Joseph, secretary 
to Arlington, 93 n.; reviews in- 
telligence letters from Holland, 
93 n.; refuses a bribe from 
France, 146-147; devoted to Ar- 
lington, 18s n.; succeeds to the 
Secretaryship of State, 243; in- 
clined to ally himself with Danby 
and Lauderdale, 243; his papers 
quoted, 93 n., 108 n., 177 n., 
190 n., 197 n., 243 n., 247 n.; 
letter to (quoted), 217 n., 233 n., 
23s n., 236 n., 249 n.; men- 
tioned, 133 n. 

Wilmot, Henry, Lord, 18, 19. 

Winwood, Sir Ralph, Secretary of 
State, 2 n. 

Wood, Anthony a, 11 n. 

Worcester, Bishop of, 42 n. 

Worcester House, 62, 64. 

York, James, Duke of, later James 
II, his household, 14 n., 16, 20, 
25, zy; his French regiment, 15; 
relations with Bennet, 14, 16-17, 
19, 20, 21-22, 24-28, 159, 162, 
176, 204-205, 220-221, 223n., 240- 
242, 244, 250 n., 251, 254, 255, 
256, 258-260, 261; accompanies 
Charles II to Jersey, 16; negoti- 
ates with the Duke of Lorraine, 
16-17; serves as a volunteer in 



the French army, 19; instruc- 
tions from the King, 19-20, 24; 
devotion to Sir John Berkeley, 
20, 25, 27; slighted by Charles 
II, 22, 25; wishes to remain in 
the French service, 22, 24; 
joins Charles II at Bruges, 25; 
leaves Bruges secretly, 27; 
placated by Ormonde, 27; re- 
turns to Bruges, 27-28; Henri- 
etta Maria disappointed at his 
return to Bruges, 31; offered the 
command of the Spanish fleet, 
38; son-in-law of Clarendon, 49; 
member of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, 70, 119; rela- 
tion with Sir W. Coventry his 
secretary, 78, iii, 115 n., 116; 
holds office of Admiral, 78; re- 
calls Prince Rupert, 94; granted 
part of revenue from Post Office, 
101 n.; loyalty to Clarendon, 11 1, 
112; does not approve French 
project of alliance, 129; informed 
of the conversion of Charles II, 

154, 158 n.; secretly a Catholic, 

155, 210; informs Arlington of 
Buckingham's intrigue, 159; ac- 
cuses Buckingham of " blab- 
bing ", 180; advises against a 
formal declaration of war, 183; 
absents himself from commun- 
ion, 185; Dutch fleet to be de- 
livered to, 193; friendship with 
Clifford, 204, 205, 210; upholds 
Declaration of Indulgence, 208; 
resigns office of Admiral, 213; 
Shaftesbury in disfavor with, 
213-214, 221; faithful to the 
French alliance, 216 n. ; his mar- 
riage to Maria of Modena, 219, 
220; his retirement from Court 
suggested, 220-221; Buckingham 
gains ground with, 223 n. ; allies 
himself with Danby and Lauder- 
dale, 240-241; agitation for his 
exclusion from the succession, 
241; seeks support in Parlia- 
ment, 242; opposition to the 
marriage of his daughter to 



INDEX 303 

William of Orange, 244-24S'> 5i n-i 62 n., 149 n., 153 n., 

resents the Prince of Orange's 220 n., 241 n. ; mentioned, 18 n., 

reply, 248; shares the King's 26, 107 n., 184, 193 n., 226 n., 

confidence, 250 n. ; marriage of 251. 

daughter, 255; quarrels with 

Danby, 256 n. ; returns from Zas, agent of the Prince of Orange, 

exile in Scotland, 258; quota- 200 n.-2oi n. 

tions from his papers, 43 n., Zealand, 149 n., 166, 197. 



